


constellations of our souls

by colourmeblue



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Star Wars AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-12 16:44:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5673109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colourmeblue/pseuds/colourmeblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I didn’t sign up for this. This is the sorriest bunch I’ve ever seen.” Raven scoffs, her eyes scanning the group in front of her. “A baby Jedi who has clearly never left the nest, a combat medic who thinks she runs the entire galaxy, the medic’s doting puppy who has literally zero purpose here, two droids who are in desperate need of a memory wipe, and a crazy Sith who’s probably going to kill us all while we’re sleeping. Did I leave anyone out?”</p><p>Clarke rolls her eyes. “You forgot yourself.”</p><p>“Right. Then there’s me, the galaxy’s greatest pilot who happens to be missing a limb. Now, are we ready to get out of here or what?”</p><p>(or, where runaway Sith prodigy Lexa uses her unique Force power to accidentally land herself in the middle of a warzone where New Republic combat medic Clarke Griffin is fighting, and a mismatched group of five makes a daring attempt to protect said prodigy from the galaxy’s new reigning terror)</p><p>(or, a Star Wars AU where gays save the galaxy)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

Lexa wakes suddenly, her head jerking violently as she’s pulled out of her dream. Sweat covers her entire body and she clenches her fists tightly as she tries to escape the images in her head. One of the many downsides to being Force sensitive is the very vivid dreams that come with it. Lexa often wonders if the Jedi face similar issues, or if it’s just the Sith who are subjected to such nightmares.

Lexa knows the Jedi as knights of the light. To Lexa, it doesn’t make sense for them to have dreams filled with demons and darkness. Lexa’s sure that no Jedi in the galaxy has killed as mercilessly as she has.

She never had the nightmares as a child. Even while studying at the Sith Academy on Korriban, she was still young and raw. She wasn’t carrying any scars or heavy burdens. Sure, they were essentially training her to become a killer, but she wasn’t one. Not yet. She hadn’t had any battle experience; she hadn’t taken any lives. The only dreams she had were the vague ones of her home world. A location that was unknown to her, having being taken away so young.

Sometimes, Lexa calms herself by reciting the Sith Code over and over again in her head. _‘Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.’_ Strength. Power. Victory. The most important lessons she’s been taught contain those words. Her instructors had drilled them into her relentlessly. Victory is the only option. Ending a battle in defeat only displeases The Queen, and serving The Queen is the only thing that matters.

And Lexa thinks that peace truly is a lie.

That’s the reason she had been taken from her home, and now her whole life is now devoted to serving the Empire. And the Queen _was_ the Empire – it’s that simple.

The rise of the Queen was legendary. The fall of the First Order at the hands of Rey could have easily spelled the end of the Empire for good. With the guidance of Luke Skywalker, Rey was able to build up the Jedi Order as well as revive the Galactic Republic. It wasn’t quite at its former glory, but it was enough to defeat Kylo Ren and the Supreme Leader.

But, naturally, the Supreme Leader had been one step ahead of the Resistance. The first rule of the Sith was that a master must always have an apprentice, and Snoke had been prepared in the case that Kylo Ren might fall. The Supreme Leader had trained a young girl in secret, and that apprentice had gone on to become the Queen herself. The title of ‘Emperor’ had long outworn itself, and Snoke believed that the Empire needed to reinvent itself if it ought to survive.

The restoration of the Republic also meant the restoration of the Empire. It’s almost as if one can’t exist without the other. Good needs a balance of evil, and vice versa. The galaxy is back to where it had been less than a century ago. War has consumed multiple star systems, and both factions have put in countless amounts of resources to try and regain planets.

Lexa studies as much of the galaxy’s history as she possibly can. Almost aggressively, her instructors would argue. She knows that history tends to repeat herself, and she’s studied everything from the Mandalorian Wars to the Battle of Endor and back again. She has to be as prepared as possible, especially with the power that she possesses.

Though, none of this helps Lexa in her current predicament. She looks down at the restraints enclosing her wrists. Any movement of her arms would cause her to be zapped painfully. The more she’s zapped, the more of her energy is drained away. She needs the full use of her power to get out of this mess. They know her weaknesses and exactly how to exploit them.

She isn’t even sure how long she has been tied to the chair. Hours? Days? Her surroundings tell her that she’s in an Imperial interrogation room.

That’s the downside to being a Sith prodigy, even your allies want any slice of your power that they can get.

Lexa has only recently become aware of the Queen’s plans, and it was only then that she began to realise the sick and twisted minds that the Sith created. She’d been brought up to believe these ideals her entire life, but at this point, she can’t see the end result. All it would bring is more damage and suffering upon the galaxy, and that’s not something Lexa wants to be a part of. Her power is rare – almost unheard of in any of the histories she’s read – and it would be dangerous in the wrong hands.

The success of the Sith is directly linked to the success of the Imperial Army. The Empire has massive numbers of stormtroopers at their command, and unlocking the full potential of Lexa’s power will allow these troops to be transported at almost lightning speed to any planet in the galaxy. This could be used to easily crush New Republic armies and restore the Empire’s reign. Billions of innocent people would be slaughtered, and it would be all Lexa’s fault.

She may have been raised to be a killer, but that doesn’t mean she has to act on it. Not all the time.

She knows she has to wait for the right opportunity to make her escape, but she has to do it soon. The weaker she becomes, the harder it will be. Despite not remembering the time she’s spent trapped in the chair, she knows that her mind must have been strong enough to resist their attempts. As much as Lexa’s been taught to serve the Queen at all costs, if the Queen had her way, Lexa would stay in a locked chamber or cell and rot while the Empire took control of her mind and harnessed all of her power.

The Queen’s mind control works in a similar way to the Emperor’s once had. Anyone who’s weak-minded can be used as her puppet to do her will. In Lexa’s case, the Queen wants to rummage around in her mind to find a way to unlock Lexa’s full potential.

Though, if Lexa herself can’t make her own power unlimited, then she isn’t sure how somebody else is going to be able to.

She absentmindedly wonders where they’ve taken her lightsaber. If her power is drained, then she will have to fight her way out. She doesn’t even know where she is, or how many of them are out there, but she has to risk it.

Whoever’s keeping her in here is probably someone she knows. Lexa knows it wouldn’t be the Queen herself, so she should be able to overpower whoever it is relatively easy. They hadn’t trained her to be one of the most powerful Sith apprentices for nothing. Even these restraints won’t be able to hold her down at her full capacity.

It doesn’t take her long to find out who it is.

The door opens swiftly and in marches an all-too-familiar figure. Lexa should’ve known that it wouldn’t be as easy as she originally thought. Roan is a tall, broad man, and his long dark hair is wild around his weathered face. He wears signature black robes, and his custom lightsaber sits at his waist. It’s been a while since Lexa has seen him, but it’s clear that the Queen’s been working him hard. He’s one of her most trusted apprentices; he’s always at her right hand, doing her bidding.

“Roan,” Lexa murmurs, a lazy smile crossing her features. “I should have guessed.”

The smile that appears on Roan’s face is somewhat sinister. “Hm, my methods must be working if you can’t remember who I am after days of being in here.”

So it had been days, and Lexa has no memory of any of it. Roan, or anyone else, could have done God knows what, and she wouldn’t have known. She doesn’t particularly like that feeling at all. Though, Lexa isn’t one to lie down and surrender. No matter what anyone does to her, she will suffer in silence.

“Your methods must _not_ be working if it has taken you days and you are still not any closer to your goal.” Lexa’s comeback is sharp, and she catches Roan off guard, but he quickly regains his composure.

“You really shouldn’t speak to me like that, especially when I could very easily end your life.”

Lexa almost snorts. Roan can’t end her life, because that would mean the end of _his_ life. If the Queen loses this opportunity to harness Lexa’s power, then she will certainly want whoever’s responsible. Lexa leans forward as best she can without touching the restraints. “I _dare_ you to try, Roan. And I will happily watch, from wherever I go after I die, as the Queen takes your head.”

Roan’s jaw clenches noticeably, and Lexa almost smirks with triumph. Although, she hasn’t won any battles just yet. She still has to find a way out of here. The only reason Roan could have possibly been there was to complete his mission. “As soon as we harness your power, you will be completely useless to us,” he spits, and although Lexa knows this already, she has never heard anyone actually _say_ it to her. “You will be expendable, just like the rest of us. So, _then_ , I will gladly kill you. My day will come, Lexa, and I will enjoy it.”

It’s Lexa’s turn to clench her jaw, and she doesn’t say another word as Roan reaches out his hand. He places the heel of his palm against her forehead, and Lexa screws her eyes shut as she tries to stop him from rooting around in her mind. It isn’t like she has any deep, dark secrets to hide, but she isn’t very fond of having her mind invaded.

She has a feeling she won’t be able to hold out for much longer.

She suddenly wishes she had something to cling to, because she knows the pain that’s about to hit her all too well. Roan flattens his palm against Lexa’s forehead, his fingers resting on the top of her head, and all she can do is watch helplessly as he tries to suck the life out of her. Lexa tenses, the movement causing her wrist to hit the restraint. Her whole arm goes numb with the shock. She can feel the Force flowing through her, but not in a calm and serene way. It’s rough and violent, poking at every inch of her brain and giving her a screaming headache. To her, it feels like someone is clawing inside her head, trying to rip their way out of her skull with their bare hands.

She opens her mouth in a silent scream, her eyes remaining shut as she feels beads of sweat rush down her face. A small part of her is telling her to give up, over and over again. Unfortunately, giving up isn’t a part of Lexa’s nature. She has an incredible stubborn streak, whereby she would rather die in this chair than let anyone see her weaknesses.

The splitting migraine she has is now pleading for her to give into him. Even if she opens her eyes now, she knows her vision would be blurred. She doesn’t want to look into Roan’s eyes as he takes control of her and her power. He doesn’t deserve the satisfaction, and neither does the Queen.

She knows it could very easily be the end. There’s absolutely nothing stopping Roan from draining every last bit of energy from her body, leaving her power completely vulnerable. Yet, for unknown reasons, the Force seems to be on her side, as the door to the interrogation chamber opens, and Roan’s hand leaves Lexa’s head quickly as if he’s been burnt.

Lexa dares to open her eyes, but her vision is completely blurred. She can make out that there’s a figure in the doorway, but she can’t tell who it is. She’s sweating profusely, and her entire body is trembling in a violent manner. Whoever this person is, they just saved her life.

“Roan, you’re needed at the bridge.”

 _The bridge._ The two words strike something in Lexa, even in her dazed state. She guesses that they must be on a starship of some sort. Are they on their way to the Queen? Probably. Whether she’s on her own starship or one of the planets controlled by the Empire, Lexa doesn’t know for sure. That detail doesn’t matter too much to Lexa, though, as she realises that escape is much harder on a starship than it is on a planet. There aren’t as many places that she can hide in order to recharge.

The voice talking to Roan is feminine. It’s vaguely familiar, but Lexa feels like she’s about to throw up all over the floor, so she currently isn’t the most reliable source.

“I don’t take orders from you, _exile_.”

 _Exile_. Lexa sucks in what little breath she can. She knows exactly who Roan is talking to, but she isn’t sure what they’re doing here. The word ‘exile’ is used with such disdain that Lexa would have flinched if she had any mobility whatsoever.

“Too bad this order is coming from above, so you really don’t have a choice.”

“I’m the highest-ranking official on this ship.” Roan spits. Lexa’s always known Roan as highly defensive and very proud, and he certainly won’t be happy with leaving his job half-finished. “There is nobody here that I take orders from.”

“Just because you’ve had your lightsaber for longer than I have, doesn’t mean you can disobey a direct order from the Queen. So, _go_.” Although she can’t see properly, the eye roll is evident just by listening to the woman’s voice. Lexa’s relieved to see Roan immediately move towards the door at the mention of the Queen. At least she knows for certain now that the Queen isn’t on this ship.

Lexa holds her breath, only letting it out when she can see that Roan’s left the room and she’s left alone with the person who has, quite possibly, saved her life. Her shaking has subsided only slightly, and she’s still having trouble seeing properly. Still, she manages to level her breathing long enough to speak. “Ontari? Is that you?”

“Shh,” Ontari hushes quickly, moving over to the other side of the room. “If anybody hears us, we’re both dead.”

“What are you talking about?” Lexa asks, but before receiving a reply, she feels the restraints on her wrists suddenly disappear. “What’s going on?”

“Listen, Lexa, we don’t have a lot of time,” Ontari starts, moving back over to stand in front of Lexa. “All I’ve heard in here for three days is you being tortured. Roan’s been in here every single day trying to gain some kind of control over your power.” Ontari pauses. “We grew up together in the Academy, Lexa, you know me better than most people. You know I’m loyal to the Queen and I would never disobey her orders… but this isn’t right.”

Lexa furrows her eyebrows in confusion. She’s too disoriented from Roan’s actions to process what Ontari is saying. The fact that Ontari is being at all moral is a complete slap in the face to Lexa. Ontari’s reputation precedes her, and this isn’t like her at all.

“I requested permission to be aboard this vessel because I knew what they were going to do to you. And now I’m going to get you out of here.”

“ _Why_?” Lexa whispers hoarsely. “Why are you doing this?”

Ontari frowns slightly, as if she’s thinking hard about her answer. “Do you ever just feel… a whisper in the Force? A tremor? Like… its telling you to do something and you know it’ll have a huge impact. Whether it be in your life or on the galaxy. That’s what I felt.” Her lips twitch slightly, as if she doesn’t know whether to continue. “There’s something about you, Lexa. You’re destined for more than this. The Force clearly knows it, and I know it.”

Lexa is still too stunned to say anything, opting to keep her mouth shut so she can focus on regaining some of her energy. She’s going to need every ounce of strength she has left if she’s going to get out of here.

Ontari takes her silence as acknowledgement and continues. “But listen… after this… Look, I have to keep serving the Queen, and I have to pretend I know nothing about your disappearance. She might send me after you. This’ll be the only time I can help you. The next time we see each other, it won’t be like this.”

Lexa nods quickly. She isn’t expecting to gain any allies here. She’s been alone for most of her life, that isn’t about to change. “I still don’t know if I understand…” And she doesn’t, because this is _Ontari_ , and Lexa’s sure that the girl has never done anything nice for anyone else in her life. It doesn’t make any sense, and Lexa is well aware that it could still be a trap. Regardless, she has to take this chance. She’s going to be trapped forever if she doesn’t.

“Okay,” Ontari nods, deciding she’s had enough talking. “Get up.”

Lexa’s body is still trembling as she tries to place her foot on the floor. As soon as she puts weight on it, her knee buckles and she would’ve fallen to the floor if Ontari wasn’t beside her to hold her steady. “Listen…” Lexa breathes out. “If I can’t even stand, then my power isn’t going to work.”

Ontari rolls her eyes. “This is ridiculous. Roan’s going to be back any minute.”

Lexa’s jaw clenches. “The Queen didn’t need to see him, did she?”

Ontari stares at her for a moment before looking away. Lexa has a feeling that she won’t have to worry about seeing Ontari again, because the Queen will surely have her killed when she finds out. “Look, if we’re going to do this, we have to do it now.”

“But, how–”

Ontari holds out her free hand in front of her, prompting Lexa to take it in hers. Knowing Lexa won’t willingly take her hand, Ontari rolls her eyes again. “God, I’m trying to _help_ you. Do you want to have enough power to get out of here or what?”

Cautiously, Lexa takes Ontari’s hand, gripping on tightly. She can feel herself instantly gaining power, and it’s then that she realises Ontari is transferring whatever of her own power that she can over to Lexa.

Lexa stares directly into Ontari’s eyes, grateful that her sight is slowly returning to her and her headache is dulling after the trauma. Ontari had always stood out at the Academy, and it wasn’t just the dark eyes, braided hair and the menacing look on her face. Most people on Korriban have always known her as ‘the exile’. Her home world no longer wanted her due to the danger she posed, and she was basically dropped on the Sith Academy’s doorstep as a small child.

Lexa had only ever heard rumours, but it seems that Ontari’s mastery of the Force was so great at such a young age, that she wiped out an entire village on her home world when she was only four years old. The Queen had only ever used Ontari’s power for such activities – massacring entire villages seems to be the Queen’s favourite pastime, since she doesn’t have to get a single drop of blood on herself. Although Lexa has killed just like everyone else at the Academy, nobody has done what Ontari has.

In short, it doesn’t surprise Lexa at all that Ontari has a generous supply of the Force at her disposal and that she knows how to use it. She’s one of the most promising Sith apprentices besides herself.

“How do you feel?” Ontari asks suddenly, and it’s then that Lexa realises that her vision has fully returned and her muscles no longer ache. Maybe she can’t use her power to the fullest extent, but she may be able to get to a nearby planet.

“It’s time.” Lexa nods. When she knows, she knows. “We’ll need to find a navicomputer to see where we are.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re on the Outer Rim, in the Allied Tion sector.”

“Tion…” Lexa murmurs, furrowing her eyebrows as she wracks her brain for an answer. It’s moments like these where all of her relentless studying at the Academy pays off. “God, there’s Cadinth, Amarin, Lianna…” She says to herself, rattling off the names of the planets in the area, knowing she hasn’t been to half of them before.

“Can’t spend a single second _not_ showing off…” Ontari mutters, rolling her eyes once again at Lexa.

Ignoring her, Lexa finally decides on a place. “Voss. The Queen sent me to Voss a few years ago. That should work.”

Letting go of Lexa’s hand, Ontari staggers towards the door. Clearly the power transfer isn’t ideal for Ontari. If she’s caught, she won’t be able to fight back. “Alright. Now’s your chance. Do what you have to do, I’ll keep watch.”

The worst thing about Lexa’s power, even worse than the drained feeling she has after she used it, is the wait time to use it. It always takes a couple of minutes to kick in, and she wonders if it’s just her inexperience, or if that’s actually her limit.

Unfortunately, Lexa doesn’t believe in limits.

She takes a couple of steps away from Ontari before lowering herself to the floor, sitting cross-legged as she closes her eyes. She runs a hand through her hair, attempting to slow her breathing enough to concentrate. Lexa has always been an expert at shutting out the world around her and focusing on the task at hand. That way she can feel the Force flowing through her completely and there are absolutely no barriers placed on her.

Once she feels the Force beginning to accumulate at a rapid pace, she cracks one eye open to look at Ontari. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Since when do you care?”

Lexa chuckles humourlessly before giving her a half-shrug. “You know I don’t care.” She turns her attention back to her work, clasping her hands together. The familiar loud cracking sound Lexa has come to know makes her lips twitch upwards, and when she opens her eyes, the crack is right there in front of her.

She can hear Ontari sucking in her breath from the other side of the room as Lexa gets to her feet. Lexa knows she’s impressed, even though she would never admit it.

Her passages always look like somebody has grabbed a vibroblade and somehow sliced through the fabric of reality. The sound it makes while open resembles a fire crackling loudly. The edges are blue to indicate that they are entirely made from, and controlled by, the Force. Portals made using the purity of the Force is something that’s only spoken of in Jedi legends. Nobody even knows if people who had these powers ever actually existed. It’s very easy to understand why the Queen wants Lexa on her side. Unlocking this power and removing the limitations will allow the Empire to move whole armies across planets without using a single starship. The enemy would never see them coming. The Empire could march on the capital of the Republic within minutes.

“Can you see anything?” Ontari asks quickly, and Lexa moves closer to the passage to peek through the crack.

“Only trees. A forest. It’s the best I can do.” There wasn’t anything memorable about Voss that she had noticed, so she has to pick the first thing out of her memory. There isn’t a lot of time for her to recall the Voss mission she had taken part in years ago.

“Alright, time to go.” Despite Ontari’s words, Lexa pauses. “Stop wasting time, Lexa!” She hisses. “We both have to get out of here before Roan comes back.”

Lexa rolls her eyes. “Relax. I’m going.” She takes one last look at Ontari, the two sharing a quick nod between them. Lexa steps forward and lets the void swallow her up before it dissolves into silence, leaving Ontari alone in the room.

\------

Clarke knows that she should be used to the weight of a blaster rifle by now, but for some reason, it feels heavier each time she uses it. Peace and prosperity are the two things her people believe in most, and each time she goes into battle, it becomes less and less clear as to why she’s doing so at all. Maybe she isn’t just carrying the rifle, but the lives she has taken along with it.

The war between the Republic and the Empire mirrors what it once did years ago. No matter how many times the Jedi save the galaxy and wipe out the Empire, they re-emerge with even more power than before. Currently, she’s serving as a combat medic in the New Republic military. It’s something that she’s always felt has called to her. She can’t just sit back on her peaceful home planet and allow the Republic to be swallowed by the Empire.

It was difficult convincing her parents to let her go, but once she turned eighteen, she knew it wasn’t up to them anymore.

Despite being just a medic, the Republic requires her to be armed and trained to kill if need be. She’s constantly in the field, and she never knows when she might need to use it. Unfortunately, she needs to use it a lot more than she originally thought she would. She’s unusually gifted in medicine, and has passed many of her tests with flying colours. She feels much more comfortable handing out bacta packs than shooting blaster bolts, but she knows the scars she bares are permanent.

It’s been relatively quiet for a couple of hours now. Since Voss is a planet completely consumed by war, that’s very unusual for them. However, everything seems to be still. The white uniforms of the stormtroopers are clearly visible against the vivid autumnal colours of the land, and there has been nothing for hours.

Voss is an intriguing planet on the Outer Rim. Its native species – also named the Voss – have stayed neutral for thousands of years, despite attempts by both sides to recruit them. Now, the Empire wants the powers that the mystical Voss possess, and are willing to take it by force. So the natives desperately called upon the Republic for help in exchange for an alliance. According to the HoloNet, the war over Voss is one of the biggest happening right now, and Clarke wonders just how much of their resources the Empire is pooling into it.

Voss has an average climate, and the terrain is everything from mountains to forests to plains. Clarke isn’t too sure if the planet has season cycles, but everything seems to be either yellow or red, which is perfect for them. Stormtroopers are required to wear their uniforms, but Clarke and Bellamy are able to dress in whatever will blend in with their surroundings, as long as they can identify themselves upon returning to Republic bases.

“Nova,” Clarke’s voice breaks through the silence. “Status report.”

“Everything is all clear, Prin—”

“ _God_ ,” Clarke interrupts him, lifting her hand in front of the droid. “Don’t call me that out here, okay?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Don’t be so hard on him,” Bellamy says, turning his head to study Clarke. “He’s just doing what he was programmed to do.” He turns back towards the droid. “Continue.”

“There are no signs of enemy life, Master Blake. My scanners have not picked up any movement for quite some time.”

“Good,” Bellamy sighs, lowering the rifle to the ground. “My arms were starting to get tired.”

“You don’t have to be on protective duty all hours of the day, Bellamy.” Clarke reminds him. “There’s a reason why we have Nova.”

N0-VA battle droids are the droids specifically designed and used to protect Clarke’s home world. Her world has not seen war for a very long time, and their leaders want to keep it that way. The droids are their security detail, and this particular droid has been with her family for many years.

(Clarke’s home world has an ancient, native language. The letters in N0-VA stand for something in that language. Something about being a guardian or protector, but Clarke’s only really fluent in Basic.)

Clarke knows that her fellow troops look at her strangely. She’s a Sergeant in the New Republic forces, she has a battle droid, and a man, who isn’t even a proper Republic soldier, with her at all times. Her superiors know the truth about her, but nobody else does, and she intends to keep it that way. She doesn’t want anything that can a) make it seem like she’s receiving special treatment, or b) make her stand out as a target to the enemy.

“No offence to Nova, but two sets of eyes are better than one, princess.”

Clarke whips her head around to face him. “Would you stop calling me that?!” She hisses, reaching out to smack him on the shoulder.

Clarke’s known Bellamy for most of her life. The two of them along with Bellamy’s sister, Octavia, had all come from the same planet, and were rather close when they all lived there together. Bellamy and Octavia always joked that Clarke could have been their other sibling that they didn’t know about. It was Bellamy’s decision to come along with Clarke, even though Clarke thought it would be putting him in too much danger. Clarke has a feeling it has more to do with his sister, though.

“Keep your pants on, Clarke, nobody can hear us.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Listen, stormtroopers aren’t exactly known for their stealth skills. They come barging in wherever they go, and they’re constantly on their communicators. If there were any around, we’d hear them from a mile away. Plus, we’re bordering Republic space, they wouldn’t dare come near here unless it was with a large army.”

Clarke rolls her eyes, not having a comeback for him. Sometimes she wonders why Bellamy didn’t leave their home planet and become a soldier for the Republic after all. Although they didn’t train him, he seems to know how to handle himself well amongst them. His instincts are always on, and so far, he’s managed to keep Clarke from dying or being captured.

“Exactly,” Bellamy grunts, acknowledging the fact that Clarke can’t argue with him. He lifts his rifle again and looks through the scope, scouting out the area as best he can. They chose a forest area to set up a temporary camp, so it’s hard to tell if anyone’s sneaking up on them. Which is even more reason for Bellamy to be on his guard, even with Nova constantly scanning.

Silence falls between the three of them. Clarke can tell by the colour of Nova’s eyes that he’s scanning the surrounding territories. Blue means neutral, green means scanning, red means danger. Clarke remembers taking the course on how to operate N0-VA droids when she was very young, as everybody on her home world does. She only vaguely remembers the many lessons that were taught about them; she believes that the best way to learn is to actually use them herself.

One of the lessons drilled into Clarke is that droids should always have regular memory wipes. She tends to break that rule a lot.

She’s so focused on Nova, that the snapping of branches in the near vicinity almost make her jump out of her skin. Bellamy’s head immediately turns towards the source of the noise. He places a finger over his lips to indicate silence, and Clarke follows behind him rifle-ready. Nova follows after her, the droid’s hand hovering over the vibrosword magnetically attached to his back.

There are no further sounds as they travel through the forest. Bellamy glances back at Clarke every once in a while to make sure she’s still there. It isn’t until a much louder rustling sound is heard that Bellamy charges forward, and Clarke’s reflexes are almost not enough to keep up with him.

Once Clarke catches up with Bellamy, she’s finally able to see the source of the noise.

A girl. Possibly around her own age. Her entire outfit is black, and by the looks of it, she isn’t carrying any weapons. She’s thin and pale, and Clarke can see that her hair is tied back with intricate braids. It’s her eyes that intrigue (and somewhat terrify) Clarke the most, though. They’re trained solely on her, boring intensely as if she’s trying to dig her way into Clarke’s soul. She doesn’t even take any notice of Bellamy or Nova.

The strangest part is: she looks vaguely familiar to Clarke.

Clarke then realises that Bellamy has his rifle pointed at the girl’s head. Following his lead, Nova detaches his sword and positions it across the girl’s neck.

“Bellamy,” Clarke warns, her eyes fixed on the girl, not breaking the eye contact between them. She doesn’t want them to end up killing an innocent and then having _that_ to deal with on top of everything else.

“What, Clarke? She’s not wearing the Republic symbol, and you _know_ humans aren’t native to Voss.” His voice is authoritative, even though Clarke is technically his superior. He doesn’t even look at Clarke as he speaks, focusing on the rifle pointed towards the stranger’s head. “She’s clearly an Imperial spy.”

Clarke places a hand on top of Bellamy’s rifle, lowering it. “We’re not going to kill an unarmed person! Imperial or not!” She argues. Especially if there’s a chance that she knows her, or Clarke has seen her face somewhere before.

“Having no weapons doesn’t mean she’s defenceless,” Bellamy counters, nudging Clarke out of the way and aiming at the girl’s forehead.

Clarke doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s probably right. Sure, any human could have migrated to Voss at some time, but no civilian would be wandering around in the middle of a warzone. As for her familiarity, Clarke could have easily faced her in battle before. Normally, Clarke doesn’t take any chances, but there’s something about the girl’s eyes, that are still locked solely on her. Her gaze is incredibly intense; almost as if she doesn’t care that her life is in danger. It’s like she and the girl are the only ones there.

Clarke swallows heavily, her words failing her. The girl’s gaze is beginning to give her chills. “We should capture her. Take her back to the outpost. If she’s an Imperial spy, maybe we can get some answers out of her.” Truthfully, she just doesn’t want to kill the girl, but she hopes that Bellamy accepts her alternative. If this girl is emotionless in the face of death, then Clarke knows there’s more to her. She has a sudden urge to speak to her, but not while the others are around.

Clarke can see Bellamy’s struggling with it. His finger is twitching near the trigger, and for the first time, the girl moves her gaze towards Bellamy, her expression entirely impassive. Bellamy grits his teeth. “Fine.” He leans down, grabbing the girl roughly by the arm and yanking her upwards. Nova steps forward and binds her wrists, all while Clarke is continuing to watch her.

The girl doesn’t utter a single word, and doesn’t offer any resistance. Bellamy stands behind her, his rifle poking her between the shoulder blades as she nudges her forward. She complies easily, taking steps forward as directed. Nova stands guard next to Clarke as they start the short trek back towards their outpost.

\------

Lexa doesn’t realise that Voss has become a warzone in the time that has passed since her last visit.

A bad miscalculation on her part.

Unfortunately, the amount of wars going on is so large, that she definitely can’t keep track of them all. She’s internally cursing herself for being so reckless. Although, she’s much happier on the planet’s surface, threatened by two children and a droid in a ridiculous looking cape, than up there with Roan and the Queen.

Lexa doesn’t fight back when the gun is pointed at her, despite knowing that she can very easily. She knows she can kill every single one of them, even without her lightsaber. Yet, she doesn’t.

The restraints they’ve put on her are nothing. She can have them off and be out of there as soon as they leave her alone. She’s been in much worse spots before.

She’s far too worn out to fight back. It was her own fault for being so foolish — she should’ve kept up with the current events of the Empire.

It’s clear to Lexa that these people are with the Republic, and if that’s the case, the worst thing she can do is panic. These people clearly don’t know who she is. If she reveals herself, then they’ll lock her in a cell and drain her Force power. Then she’ll never escape. Although her power needs a recharge now after her trip, there are other means of escaping a locked room. If they continue to think she’s just an Imperial or a soldier, then she can slip out without them noticing.

It’s all rather simple in her mind.

Except the girl.

Lexa makes sure she doesn’t make any sudden movements, but she continues to watch the blonde out of the corner of her eye. There’s something _within her_ that intrigues Lexa. The Force can show her many things, and for some reason, it’s drawing Lexa to this soldier.

Despite what the Force is telling her, she knows this girl is either going to lock her up or kill her, so she’ll never get to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, this goes deeper than Star Wars canon and enters the Extended Universe. This is set after Rey's trilogy, but its only canon up to The Force Awakens (obviously, since I don't know what's going to happen in the upcoming movies). 
> 
> You can pretty much find anything I've spoken about in the fic (planets, past wars, types of droids, etc.) on the Star Wars wiki, either under the canon or legends tab. If there's something I've changed or made up myself, I'll explain it in the notes. 
> 
> For example, N0-VA droids do not exist, I made them up. In saying that, they were created by Clarke's home world with MagnaGuards in mind (you know General Grievous’s guards from Episode III?) so they look a lot like them if you want a reference. 
> 
> Also, if you’ve played Bioshock Infinite, you’d understand what Lexa’s powers are loosely based off of. ;) It’ll be explained in more detail as we go!


	2. Two

The distance back to the outpost isn’t far, it just feels that way to Clarke. She can feel the stranger’s eyes on her the whole way, and it’s completely unnerving. She isn’t sure what’s so fascinating about her, but this girl has barely even acknowledged Bellamy, so clearly, he isn’t interesting enough for her. Regardless, Clarke keeps her eyes forward, trying not to trip over any tree branches on the way back.

The outpost she’s stationed at is small but well-equipped. They have to be, especially in special cases such as this. Soldiers and large droids stand watch at every wall, and each outpost houses its own main office for the most superior soldiers, a medical centre and containment building where they can hold prisoners. Clarke’s a field medic, but she always helps out when the medical bay is short-staffed for whatever reason. At small outposts like this one, it happens quite a lot.

Upon entering a Republic outpost, all soldiers are required to show identification. Before, it had been far too easy for someone to slip into Republic space with just a uniform. Security became much tighter when the Queen had begun her reign over the Empire.

Now, every soldier is required to have eye scans upon re-entering their base in order to identify them. Clarke and Bellamy usually have no problems with it, but they have never brought a prisoner back with them before.

As soon as they approach the gate, the soldiers guarding the outpost raise their rifles and point it in their direction. Bellamy continues to push forward and he jabs their prisoner in the back with his rifle as he goes. Clarke knows that isn’t really necessary, but it’s more of an intimidation tactic. She knows Bellamy feels better when he has the power in a situation.

The guards know who they are, but they are clearly wary of the prisoner. One of the guards turns his head. “Lieutenant!” He yells over his shoulder, beckoning for the Lieutenant to step out through the gates.

Lieutenant Nathan Miller is Clarke’s superior. She’s served under him for quite a while, but he’s still a total mystery to her. He mostly keeps to himself, and he’s very focused on his job. He’s quiet, keeps his head down, and doesn’t cause trouble. It’s no wonder he rose to Lieutenant at such a young age. Clarke doesn’t get to spend too much time with him, since he isn’t a medic like herself, but she knows just how good he is at his job.

In saying that, Clarke isn’t quite sure how he’s going to handle this particular situation.

The gates open quickly and Lieutenant Miller walks briskly out towards the group. Once he reaches them, he gave Clarke a polite nod before looking towards the prisoner. “Who exactly do we have here, Sergeant?”

“We don’t know, sir. We came across her in the forest not far from here. She was unarmed and didn’t put up a fight,” Bellamy reports, watching the girl cautiously, and his grip on his rifle tightening. “She was in Republic territory. We thought she could be an Imperial spy of some kind. We—”

Clarke cuts him off. “We didn’t want to hurt her, so we brought her back here.” She says, eyeing Bellamy. “We thought maybe, with the right persuasion, she could give us some answers.”

Honestly, any answers the Republic can get out of an Imperial will help the war effort greatly. The war on Voss is practically neck-in-neck at the moment. Causalities are on both sides and both parties have equal amounts of territories under their control. They need every advantage they can get to win this war.

Lieutenant Miller nods, seemingly satisfied with the report. “Nice work, Sergeant. You too, Mr. Blake.” He acknowledges, looking the prisoner up and down.

Once again, the girl’s face is completely impassive. She isn’t giving away a single emotion, and Clarke thinks it’s probably the most strategic thing for her to do. Any facial expression can give away a secret about her. Clearly, whoever she is, she’s well trained. Or just entirely emotionless. Clarke hasn’t decided yet.

“Alright, put the Force cuffs on her and lock her up. I’ll call the closest base and tell them to send an interrogator over.” The Lieutenant says to a couple of the soldiers standing behind him.

In that moment, Clarke sees the girl flinch slightly. She’s sure that she’s the only one who notices it, but it’s the first time she’s seen her face move beyond that neutral expression. Clearly, something bothers her about Lieutenant Miller’s words. Clarke narrows her eyes slightly, wondering what’s going on in the girl’s mind.

Lieutenant Miller turns back to face Clarke. “Apart from capturing our guest here, how was the patrol?”

“Not bad,” Clarke replies. “We didn’t see anyone on the border until we stumbled across her. Everything seemed… quiet.”

“Hmm,” Lieutenant Miller says thoughtfully. “I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad one.”

“Me either.”

“There’s not really anything we can do about it except make sure we’re ready to defend ourselves.” Lieutenant Miller nods. His men cuff their prisoner and begin to lead her inside the gates.

Clarke can see the girl’s jaw clench, like she’s trying to suppress any kind of emotions she’s having. It doesn’t tend to end well for Imperial spies. They’ll either be a Republic prisoner forever, or they’ll escape and return to their bases, only to be punished by their superiors. Curiosity is getting the better of Clarke, even though she knows there’s something dangerous about the girl.

Clarke, Bellamy and Nova follow Lieutenant Miller inside, and the guards shut the outpost gate behind them. Clarke isn’t a huge fan of the outposts. They’re small, there’s hardly any privacy, and it sometimes feels like she’s suffocating. She spends most of her time outside the walls, even if that means having to drag Bellamy and Nova along as her guards.

“Clarke?” Bellamy asks quietly, pulling the blonde away from her thoughts.

“Hm?”

“Are you sure we did the right thing? With her, I mean. I don’t want to be responsible for her escaping and slaughtering everyone in this camp.”

Clarke narrows her eyes. “You don’t know that she’s capable of that.”

“Why are you defending her?” Bellamy shoots back.

“I’m not, I’m defending _our_ actions,” Clarke corrects him before sighing. “We’re not killers, Bellamy. If anything happens, I’ll take the blame. I’m the only one who’s actually a Republic solider here.”

Bellamy lets out a heavy, defeated sigh. Clarke knows it well; it’s his ‘I can’t argue with you anymore’ sigh. Usually she welcomes it, because it means she’s won whatever argument they’re having, but she isn’t sure she wants to win this one. “Fine. I’m going to go back to my bunk and get cleaned up. Nova could use a check, too. Can I trust you won’t put yourself in any danger while I’m gone?”

“I promise I’ll stay inside the walls,” Clarke tells him, knowing that he doesn’t like it when she leaves. She can’t blame him. He’s just trying to do his job, and sometimes Clarke makes it difficult for him.

“Alright,” Bellamy accpets, leading Nova away from Clarke and towards the building that houses the soldiers’ bunks. It isn’t the most comfortable living arrangements because, like everything else there, it’s temporary. The outposts aren’t built to last forever.

It’s strange being on her own; Clarke isn’t even sure what that’s like anymore. She never has a moment to herself. Though, she isn’t _completely_ alone. Lieutenant Miller is still hovering behind her.

“We’ll run some scans on her… see if she shows up on any of our watch lists.” He informs Clarke. “We’ll let you know if we find anything.”

Clarke nods slightly before turning away from the Lieutenant and heading straight towards the medical bay. It doesn’t make a difference to her who the girl is. Clearly, she isn’t a friend. Once she steps foot inside the medical bay, she inhales deeply. The smell of bacta calms her, even though it disgusts most other people because it’s ‘too sweet’. It’s been a familiar and comforting smell to Clarke for years; it doesn’t feel the same if it isn’t there. It reminds her that not everything is about war and destruction, and that some people can actually be healed.

The doctor in charge of this particular outpost is a woman named Maya. She’s rather quiet; she hasn’t said more than a few words to Clarke since she’s been posted there. She’s good at her job though, Clarke has seen many soldiers come through with various injuries, and Maya’s been able to fix most of them.

Maya knows that Clarke likes to spend time in the medical bay, and she never says anything to her superiors.

Clarke wanders over to the partitioned area that’s covered by a plastic curtain. She pushes past it, entering the bacta tank room. Only a couple of them are in use, but they don’t exactly have a lot of them to spare. This is only one small outpost of many, and there are outposts in much more dangerous locations.

Regardless, it’s comforting to know that her skills are being put to good use somewhere.

Clarke’s sure she hasn’t spent more than twenty minutes in there, her hands fiddling with the familiar equipment in the medical bay. She’s also required to restock her portable bacta packs while she’s there, and Maya takes care of that while Clarke nosily checks out a patient’s chart. Again, Maya doesn’t say anything, even if Clarke isn’t authorised to do it.

The only reason she leaves the medical bay is because of a commotion she can hear outside. It sounds a lot like a fight and Clarke rushes outside as quickly as she can.

She isn’t too surprised to see that the fight is between Bellamy and Lieutenant Miller. Bellamy seems to have gotten himself in trouble to the point where the soldiers are pointing their rifles at him. Clarke rushes over to stand between them.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Clarke hisses, glaring at Bellamy. “You tell _me_ to stay out of trouble and then you go and pick a fight with trained soldiers? What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“It wasn’t me who started it! Miller just came up to me and started yelling about me being a traitor!” As he speaks, Clarke turns quickly to face the Lieutenant with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s _Lieutenant_ Miller to you, kid. And I wasn’t just talking about you, I was talking about your little Princess here, too. I knew I never should’ve agreed to taking you on.” The Lieutenant says, squaring up to Bellamy. Even though Bellamy is much larger than him, Miller has the edge of military training.

Clarke shifts uncomfortably at the word ‘princess’, knowing that nobody else in the outpost knows their secret apart from Miller. What she’s more concerned with, however, is the fact that her superior looks like he’s about to punch Bellamy square in the nose. Hoping to steer the topic away from her, she takes a couple of steps towards Miller. “And what _exactly_ did we do that makes us traitors?”

“You brought a _Sith apprentice_ into our camp, that’s what!” The Lieutenant’s voice is at full volume now, not caring who overhears.

Clarke freezes, and she feels the blood drain from her face. Clarke thinks there’s absolutely no way that girl is a Sith. She would have fought back and killed all of them. Not to mention, she wasn’t carrying a lightsaber, and didn’t resist in the slightest upon finding out that they were the Republic. She hasn’t made any indication that she’s a Sith.

Yet, maybe that’s the biggest indication of them all.

Clarke stands still and silent, although she’s completely seething on the inside. Bellamy is the one to speak first, “We did _not_ know she was a Sith when we brought her here. What do you think? We just joined the Republic Army so we could smuggle a Sith into a tiny outpost on some Outer Rim planet? What the hell would that achieve? Use your God damn brain, Miller.”

Obviously that isn’t the correct thing to say, because the Lieutenant grabs the pistol at his waist and points it straight at Bellamy’s head. Nova is quick to step in, his sword once again pointing towards the one threatening his masters. Clarke, on the other hand, is standing very still, not even looking at the conflict happening beside her. She’s lost in her own world, trying to make sense of what she’s just heard.

Clarke clenches her jaw, her nostrils flaring as she thinks about it. Yes, this is her fault for letting the girl into the outpost, but she just can’t get past the fact that she’s a _Sith_. The Sith have ruined countless lives all across the galaxy. How many people has this girl killed? How many lives has this girl ruined? How many families has she torn apart for nothing?

The fact that she’s gotten that close to a Sith makes her sick.

Finally, Miller speaks again. He doesn’t seem all that concerned that Clarke’s droid has a blade pointed at his throat. “This is not just _any_ Sith. She’s not only on our watch lists, but the Empire has a listing for her, too. If she’s wanted by both factions, then she’s twice as dangerous.” He keeps the gun trained on Bellamy, and Clarke can see that Bellamy’s beginning to sweat.

Clarke shakes her head slowly, letting out a growl. She isn’t thinking at all when she turns and immediately snatches the blaster pistol out of Miller’s hands. She turns and heads straight for the containment cells. She can hear Bellamy calling after her, but she pretends not to hear him as she storms through the front door of the building. She pushes past as many guards as she possibly can before she reaches the cells. There’s only one cell in use, which makes Clarke’s job a whole lot easier.

Not only does the Sith have the Force cuffs on, but she’s behind a force field barrier, which prevents her from breaking her way out with no hands. Which she probably could have done if she really wanted to, before they put the cuffs on. She sits in the corner of the cell, her head hangs low and the hair that’s not braided obscures her face. Clarke doesn’t need her to be looking at her when she kills her though.

She presses the button which lowers the force field and steps inside the cell, aiming the gun directly at the Sith’s head. The girl doesn’t even lift her head until Bellamy and Miller catch up to Clarke and yell at her to stop what she’s doing. Clearly, she’s lost her mind. She’s just let down the only barrier between a Sith and the rest of the outpost, but at the same time, she really doesn’t care.

Once the Sith finally looks up at Clarke, the intense green-eyed stare is back, and Clarke’s grip tightens on Miller’s pistol. Clarke knows she can just kill her right now. She can just end everything. The girl will be dead and the whole issue will be over.

“I wonder how many lives I would be avenging if I killed you right now,” Clarke spits as she jabs the gun closer towards the girl. She tries not to pay any attention to the fact that her hands are trembling.

The intense gaze only continues, and Clarke wonders if the girl has the ability to speak at all.

“Clarke,” Bellamy warns, and she can feel him coming up behind her. “Put the gun down. You said it yourself, this isn’t the answer.”

Clarke ignores him at first. She steps forward and presses the barrel of the gun right against her forehead. “Tell me why I shouldn’t.”

The look in the girl’s eyes changes for a moment, and it almost looks as if she’s daring Clarke to pull the trigger. The glint is almost predatory, and Clarke has to blink a couple of times in order to stay focused.

“Because this isn’t you. You would never do this, not even to someone who had done such horrible things. You believe in the Republic and trust in their laws. You told me that yourself.”

Clarke lets out a shaky breath, and she can feel tears pricking her eyes, but she isn’t about to cry in front of this Sith. Instead, she holds her head up high and pulls the gun away quickly. She shoves the pistol into Bellamy’s chest in defeat. Bellamy takes it off her hands as she rushes past everyone in the room and makes her way outside.

It’s one of those moments where she desperately wishes to be alone, but that just isn’t possible.

Although she’s completely overwhelmed, she Sith she left behind is relatively unfazed.

Surprisingly, it’s Miller who reaches her first. He places his hand on Clarke’s shoulder, yet she shrugs it off almost immediately. “You accuse me of treason and you expect me to forgive you? No thank you,” she murmurs softly. She continues to take steps forward and before she knows it, she’s in front of her bunk.

Soldiers are only allowed as many personal items as they can carry with them. Clarke carries two photographs – one of her with her parents, the other of her with Bellamy, Octavia and Nova – as well as a small, transparent crystal. It was given to her as a child by her grandmother, and she was told it would help her to become a great healer. Clarke doesn’t believe in that anymore, but she keeps it because it reminds her of the more innocent times in her life.

It doesn’t take long for Bellamy to find her. He’s no longer carrying the gun, and Clarke’s eyes are dry, so she wishes they could just forget it ever happened. She doesn’t want Bellamy looking at her differently because of what he saw in there.

Thankfully, Bellamy doesn’t bring it up at first. “Miller is going to talk to Republic Command, see what they want to do with her. She won’t give us anything, so they have no choice but to send her back to HQ.” He watches Clarke carefully, and she can tell he’s trying to gauge her reaction.

Clarke lets out a shaky breath, and it’s almost one of relief. If the girl isn’t around anymore, then she won’t have to worry about her. She won’t need to worry about flying off the handle again. “Let’s hope it happens soon then.”

“Clarke…”

“Bellamy, don’t.” Clarke squeezes the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “I have a headache and I can’t deal with this right now.”

Bellamy furrows his eyebrows. He’s always had the concern of an older brother. Annoyingly so, at times. Clarke thinks he’s overcompensating for not having Octavia in his life anymore, so she lets him be overprotective. “Maybe you should lie down. I’ll go get something from the med bay.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Clarke murmurs. She turns around and realises that her bunk has never looked so appealing before. She climbs in it, not even checking if Bellamy’s left the room before she shuts her eyes and drifts off, exhaustion getting the better of her.

\------

Clarke wakes sometime later and her pulse is pounding in her ears. Her headache has only gotten worse over the time she’s been asleep. She groans heavily as she rolls over. Nova is sitting near her bunk, presumably watching over her since Bellamy is nowhere to be seen. At least with Nova, she doesn’t feel any pressure to talk.

“Master Griffin,” Nova greets her once the droid realises she’s awake. “Master Blake left these for you.” He holds out a plastic container and a glass of water. The container holds a single small pill, most likely for her headache.

She thanks Nova and takes the pill out. She promptly puts it in her mouth and downs the entire glass of water in one go.

Watching her, Nova speaks up again. “Would you like some more water, ma’am?”

Clarke’s lips twitch upwards. “You don’t have to call me that, you know. You can just call me Clarke.”

“Master Clarke.”

“…Close enough,” she mutters, before directing her attention back to him again. “But yeah, Nova, that’d be great.”

Once Nova gets up and leaves, Clarke lets out a heavy sigh. She’s sure she can spend the next few minutes revelling in the rare moment of peace and quiet, but she has other ideas. Thankfully, nobody else is in the bunks, so nobody will see her leave. She gets up off her bunk, straightens out her clothes, and pokes her head out of the building to see if anyone is around.

She can’t see anyone. She briefly wonders where Bellamy is as she steps out.

Knowing this is probably her only chance, she shuffles across the camp towards the building that houses the containment cells. She’s unarmed this time, so she hopes the guards let her in without arresting her. Once she reaches the entrance, she notes that there seems to be only one guard on duty there.

Just one guard for a Sith? Sounds a little too risky.

The guy is younger than Clarke, and is practically shaking in his boots. He keeps looking over his shoulder towards the prisoner, but her head is still hung low. It’s relatively easy for Clarke to convince him that she isn’t there to assassinate the Sith. (How does one assassinate a Sith anyway?) All she has to do is tell him that she’s the one who will be in trouble if they’re caught.

New recruits. Far too green.

She wanders further into the room until she reaches the girl’s cell. The Sith hasn’t moved from the corner of the cell and her head is still down. At this rate, Clarke’s starting to wonder if this girl is even human at all.

“ _Hey_.” Clarke says. It’s more accusatory than a simple greeting.

The girl only lifts her eyes very slowly, and her head soon follows. She raises an eyebrow in acknowledgement, but doesn’t move any other parts of her body.

“Listen, I’m…” Clarke sighs in frustration. She has no idea what she’s supposed to say to her. This visit wasn’t exactly planned, and she’s sure Nova will be back at bunk wondering where she is. “God, look. I don’t know who the hell you are, or what game you’re trying to play, but if you try anything, I will kill you. I will not hesitate next time. Do you understand? And if I don’t kill you, somebody else will.”

The Sith only looks at her, blinking a few times as if the threat doesn’t worry her at all. It doesn’t surprise her, Clarke is ninety-nine percent sure she won’t be able to follow through on that threat. What chance does a soldier have against someone who has the Force on their side?

“God!” Clarke yells in frustration. “Just say _something_! You’re infuriating!”

The girl remains silent, her expression unchanged.

Clarke only huffs, realising that visiting her is a total waste of her time. Her method of fishing for answers isn’t exactly ideal, but she’s angry, and it’s the best she can do. She turns on her heel and begins to walk out of the room. She doesn’t want to see the Sith’s face ever again.

“Lexa.”

Clarke stops dead in her tracks, wanting to be sure she heard correctly. The girl’s voice is soft, much softer than Clarke expects. Just one word has the ability to freeze her in place. It’s almost inviting, and it may have drawn her in if her tone wasn’t so menacing. Clarke tries her best to shake off the chills running up and down her spine as she turns around to face her again. “I’m sorry?”

“My name. Lexa.”

Suddenly, something clicks in Clarke’s head. Suddenly, she knows why this Sith had seemed so familiar to her when they first captured her. “You’re… Lexa. You’re Lexa, as in… the Queen’s apprentice Lexa.” It’s more of a statement than a question. She doesn’t have to ask to know. It’s all over the HoloNet. One of the Republic’s top priorities is finding this particular Sith and shutting down a unique Force power that she apparently possesses. Clarke doesn’t know the nature of the power, exactly, but the rumour is that the Queen is trying to get it battle-ready. She knows the Queen has many apprentices, but it’s clear that Lexa has been groomed for a specific purpose. She’s a pawn on the Queen’s board and she’s ready to strike at any time.

Lexa doesn’t reply, but she doesn’t need to for Clarke to know the truth.

“But… when we captured you back in the forest… you could’ve still escaped with your eyes closed, even _with_ the cuffs on. So why didn’t you?”

“There are things that you do not know, Clarke.” Her answer is vague. Threatening. Just like her.

Clarke isn’t surprised that Lexa knows her name. Eavesdropping is probably the only interesting thing she can do in that cell. She probably knows a lot of things at this point. The way Lexa says her name intrigues her. She puts extra emphasis on the ‘k’, as if she’s trying to make a point. Clarke isn’t sure if she likes it or not. “But, I...”

Yelling outside causes her to drop her sentence. She turns quickly to see both Bellamy and Miller walk into the room. It then dawns on her that Miller knew all along who Lexa was, since he run the facial recognition on her. Miller’s anger towards herself and Bellamy seems somewhat justified now, especially when he thought they were involved.

“Clarke, what are you doing in here? When Nova said he didn’t know where you were, I almost had a heart attack.” Bellamy says with an exasperated sigh. “I’m gonna be dead before thirty because of you,” he muttered.

The joke makes Clarke’s lips twitch. She doesn’t really want to smile, they’re in a bit of a dire situation, but she can’t help it. “I promised that I would stay inside the walls of the camp, and I did.” She tells him. She glances back at Lexa one last time before turning towards Miller. “So, I guess you know who we’re dealing with here already.”

“Yes,” Miller says. He steps forward so he can speak to Clarke and Bellamy in a hushed tone. “I’ve contacted Republic Command, and we really should talk about what we discussed.”

“Why?” Bellamy asks. “I don’t understand how we’re involved.”

“Oh, you’re definitely involved.” Miller says with a nod. “You’ve got new orders from above.”

\------

Clarke dodges as many questions as she can from Bellamy about why she’d been talking to Lexa. Bellamy knows just as much as she does about the girl, so his questions are useless. Miller filled him in while they were apart, and he’s just about as happy about it as Clarke is. Despite her feelings towards the Sith, it frustrates her that Miller and Bellamy had interrupted her conversation with Lexa. _Just_ as she was starting to get some answers, everything had been ripped away from her again.

She follows Miller towards his office, kicking up the dirt with her boots as she walks. A part of her just wants to turn around and go back to where Lexa is. When she spoke, Clarke was much less afraid of her. Now she’s just curious. She always has been; it’s just in her nature. She never rests until she gets to the bottom of things. She can feel that Lexa is just another complicated mystery for someone to solve.

Once they arrive in Miller’s office, Clarke’s already had enough of the day’s events. She wants to curl back up in her bunk and sleep for another twelve hours. She can’t even remember the last time she had gotten a good night’s sleep. They go to bed late and wake up early. Every single day. She’d wanted the life of a soldier, and her wish certainly came true. 

“So, what exactly are these ‘orders’ Clarke has been given?” Bellamy asks. Considering she’s the only official member of the Republic, it’s _her_ orders instead of _theirs_.

“Republic Command says you are to deliver the Sith to the Jedi Generals here on Voss. There are two Generals here who are members of the Council on Coruscant. If anyone knows what to do, it’ll be them. They’ll have a Council meeting to figure out their next move.” 

Clarke laughs. It’s such a foreign sound that a part of her is surprised by it. “ _Us_? Bring _her_ to the Jedi? That’s hilarious. Really. I didn’t know we were in the delivery business now.”

Miller doesn’t look as amused as Clarke is.

“I mean, seriously? What would stop us from taking her out into the woods and shooting her in the back of the head, huh? I mean, I’m _clearly_ a danger to—”

“Clarke…” Bellamy warns.

“These are your _orders_ , Sergeant.” Miller growls. He’s clearly fed up with the performance Clarke’s been putting on throughout the day. “Disobeying a direct order from Republic Command is the same as resigning and handing over your weapon. They were very clear. You found her, you take her to the Jedi.”

Bellamy lowers his voice and leans in closer to Miller. “I’m not sure sending her on this mission is a good idea. It’s dangerous and you know there’s a higher risk for her.”

“It seems you’re all more than capable of handling yourselves,” Miller replies, looking between Clarke, Bellamy and Nova. “And Clarke wanted to be a real soldier. So, here she is. A real soldier with a real mission.”

If Miller wasn’t her superior, Clarke’s sure she would have punched him in the nose. “I don’t appreciate being mocked.” She pauses. “And for the record? I am a real soldier. Maybe you should read my service record a little more carefully.”

Miller stares her down, and Clarke stares back. She’s never been good at following rules. Or respecting her superiors. “You will do as you have been commanded, or you will no longer be a soldier of the Republic. Those are your options.”

Clarke clenches her jaw. She would’ve sworn to anyone that she didn’t normally act this crazy. It’s just the thought of spending any more with that Sith enrages her. Any other assignment and she would’ve been fine, but she went after this girl with the intention of killing her. Not only would her pride be wounded being forced to protect her, but she has no idea just how dangerous this girl is. “Fine,” is all she replies with. She doesn’t even bother to look Miller in the eyes as she speaks.

Bellamy tries his best to pull the focus away from Clarke. “There’s no way that Sith is going to be delivered to the Jedi quietly.” Bellamy reasons, and Clarke realises he has a good point. “I’m assuming you have some sort of plan to get us to these Jedi without her killing us?”

Miller nods. “We’re going to fill her cell with sleeping gas at any moment. She’ll be out like a light for a while, depending on how heavy the dosage is. That way, we can put her in the back of a speeder and you can be on your way. We’ll keep the Force cuffs on her for when she wakes up, but you should be there before that happens.”

Clarke snorts quietly, yet everyone in the room still turns towards her. Not only is this the worst idea she’s ever heard, but she can’t believe that _she’s_ at the centre of it. Regardless, she doesn’t say anything. She’s about two seconds away from losing her job anyway.

Bellamy nods before sighing heavily. “Alright, well… just let us know when she’s knocked out. Unless Clarke wants to go back into the Krayt Dragon’s den by herself again…”

Clarke rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Bellamy.” She turns towards Miller, back straight, finally looking him in the eye. “Who exactly are these Jedi that we’re looking for?”

Miller turns around and types a few keys on his datapad before replying, “We have a Master Lincoln and a Master Indra. As I said, both from the Council.”

Clarke’s heart drops at the mention of Indra’s name, and she’s positive that Bellamy’s did the same. Both friends share a look and the first bright smile appears on Clarke’s face in some time.

“ _Octavia_.”

\------

Ever since Octavia Blake had been born, both Clarke and Bellamy knew that she didn’t belong on their home planet. She was quite the free spirit, always running wild by herself, and Bellamy was always the one who had to keep her in line. Octavia always promised she would leave their home and visit as many planets as she could before she died, and Clarke believed her.

Clarke and Octavia had always been close, mostly because everybody knew Octavia was different and Clarke was one of the very few friends she had when she was young. People were always scared of what was different, Clarke’s mother would say. Bellamy befriended her soon after, and the three had been close ever since.

It wasn’t until Octavia turned twelve, when a representative of the Jedi Council had come to their home planet for diplomatic reasons, that her power had been discovered. She was Force sensitive, and although Clarke’s mother had always suspected it, it had only been confirmed when she had met the Jedi.

Two days later, she was whisked away to the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to begin training. Luke had set up the Academy there when he was still alive, and Rey managed to maintain it after he was gone. It’s where their most successful Padawans came from. Clarke knew that ever since she was a young girl, Octavia had alternated her time between Yavin 4 and Coruscant, as well as going on missions with her Master, Indra, who happened to be on the Council.

The rules of the Jedi have vastly changed since Luke rebuilt the Order, even allowing parents and family members to go visit Padawans on Yavin 4 during their training. Since Bellamy and Octavia’s parents are no longer around, Bellamy’s the only one who has ever been to visit Octavia. When she’s not on missions, that is.

Clarke, on the other hand, hasn’t seen her in at least eight years. She was always needed on her home world, and as soon as she turned eighteen, she became a soldier. She’s never seen Padawan Octavia before and she has no idea what to expect.

Those thoughts occupy her mind as Nova helps Bellamy load the speeder they’re taking to Voss’s capital city. Miller told them that it should only take a couple of hours, if they don’t run into any trouble on the way. The way to Voss-Ka is a winding path through the mountains, and Clarke hopes it provides them with some cover so that they _don’t_ get attacked by anyone. Voss-Ka is currently a city occupied by citizens of Voss as well as the Republic, and she hopes that lasts for a long time to come.

A few soldiers approach them carrying their last piece of luggage in their arms — Lexa. It’s incredibly surreal to Clarke seeing the Sith knocked out, and she wonders if it was even the same girl she had pointed a gun at earlier.

Lexa looked invincible to Clarke since the moment she met her, but in this moment, she looks just like a child. She loos so innocent, and everything seems so much simpler to Clarke while she’s looking at her relaxed face. She wonders if Lexa ever gets to have a restful sleep. The gas that the soldiers use would knock her out so hard that she won’t even have the energy to dream.

Though, she knows that won’t last forever.

The only thing keeping her mind at ease are the Force cuffs still attached to her wrists. Clarke can only thank the brilliant soul who invented those.

She climbs into the passenger’s side of the speeder and Bellamy takes the seat next to her. Nova is placed in the back seat with Lexa and the Sith’s feet rest in Nova’s lap. Bellamy’s only just started up the speeder when Miller walks over to Clarke’s side and places his hand on the door.

“Listen, Clarke… I’m sorry. For accusing you of bringing her here. I was just overwhelmed. I’ve never seen a Sith outside of a battle before.”

Clarke shakes her head. “Forget it, Miller. It’s fine, I promise.”

For once, he doesn’t correct her. “I’ve never seen a Sith incapacitated before either, so that makes me feel slightly better.” Miller laughs.

“Oh, I agree. Let’s just hope we get her to the Jedi _before_ she wakes up and tries to kill all of us.” Clarke jokes, but she can only manage a hint of a smile.

“Just… come back safe, okay?”

“We’ll try,” Clarke gives him a quiet chuckle before looking over her shoulder at their cargo. She definitely didn’t sign up for _this_ when she applied to be a soldier. Though, she didn’t sign up for a lot of things in her life.

Miller gives her a quick nod and steps away from the speeder, allowing Bellamy to get the vehicle moving. Soldiers at the front gate clear the way for them, and Clarke waves to Miller as they begin gaining speed. The speeder slips out of the outpost’s gates and begins its steady ascent up the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I'd point out the characters' ages here! Octavia is 20, Lexa is 23 and Bellamy and Miller are 24. Clarke, Ontari, Monty, Murphy and Raven are all 22.
> 
> Also, Voss-Ka actually is on a mountain. Quite ominous for Clexa lmao.


	3. Three

“Do you remember the last time we were in Voss-Ka?” Bellamy asks, and Clarke certainly doesn’t miss the slight smirk on his face.

“ _No_ , because it was the first night we were on Voss and we spent the whole night in the cantina, and then when we left, I threw up all over the sidewalk.”

Bellamy laughs, full and hearty. Clarke can’t remember the last time she heard him laugh like that. It saddens her that she doesn’t hear her friends laugh that often anymore. “I had to practically _carry_ you out of that cantina.”

Clarke rolls her eyes with a huff. She only remembers very key parts of that night. It was their last night before Clarke travelled to her outpost to begin her _actual_ work, and it had been Bellamy’s bright idea to celebrate with drinks with her fellow soldiers. No matter what she’s doing or where she is, having drinks usually ends in disaster for Clarke.

Luckily, she doesn’t mind it all that much. She doesn’t get many chances to let loose anymore and she usually grasps the opportunity with both hands.

“Something tells me we won’t be visiting the cantina this time around,” Clarke finally replies with a heavy sigh. She looks over her shoulder again, just to make sure Lexa’s still knocked out. She knows she’s been doing it every few minutes since they left the outpost, but she can’t help it. She’s paranoid.

Bellamy stays silent for a moment before replying. “So what did Miller tell you about this girl?”

“Just that her name was Lexa,” Clarke lies. Bellamy doesn’t need to know that Lexa had spoken to her directly. Not yet. “And that she was some high-profile Sith apprentice on both the Republic and Empire watch lists. If the scan brought up anything else, then he didn’t tell me about it.”

Clarke sees Bellamy’s frown out of the corner of her eye. Thankfully, he keeps his gaze directly ahead of him as he drives. If he isn’t looking at her, then her face can’t give anything away. “If she’s on the Empire’s watch list too then she must be on the run. The more information we get, the more troublesome this whole situation is.”

Clarke knows Bellamy’s right. The reason why Lexa is also on the Empire’s watch list is weighing heavily on her mind. She knows they have to be careful, because the Sith is not going to be turned over to the Jedi without a fight. Sith are known to slaughter entire cities of people; two young adults and a droid would be no match for Lexa. Clarke’s already jumpy because she knows Lexa’s capable of making a move at any time. She’s probably just waiting for the right moment.

“I know you’re paranoid about her, but hopefully once we get them to the Jedi, this will all be over.”

Clarke chuckles. “Yeah, and we can go back to scout patrols on the border.” She used to complain about how boring those scout patrols were, but she’d pick them any day over this particular assignment.

Bellamy shrugs. “It definitely makes my job a lot easier.”

They ride in silence for a little while. So much has happened in the past twelve hours and it’s making Clarke’s head spin. Of course _she_ had to be the one that was caught up in this mess. She wonders what would’ve happened if Clarke and Bellamy hadn’t found Lexa in the forest. What would she have done? Would she have slaughtered an entire Republic outpost for some transportation in order to get off the planet? Clarke wouldn’t put it past her. Despite it being a huge pain for the both of them, Clarke’s glad that Lexa hasn’t had the chance to hurt anyone yet.

Though, there is _one_ other positive thing about this particular mission.

“How do you feel about seeing Octavia again?” Clarke asks Bellamy. She turns her head so she can look at him as he answers.

“Honestly? Anxious. You know it’s been a couple of years since I last visited her. She’s been on mission after mission and I’ve been with you this whole time, so it’s been practically impossible to see her,” Bellamy explains, although Clarke already knows. “I just… worry about her. I wonder how much she’s changed after all this time.”

Clarke smiles gently. “She’s still Octavia. She’ll _still be_ Octavia.” She pauses. “No matter what she’s like now, she’s still your little sister. Plus, she’s a Jedi now. She can totally kick ass and probably doesn’t need you worrying about her anymore.”

Bellamy nods, even though Clarke knows that no matter what, Bellamy’s always going to worry about Octavia. “What about you? It’s been even longer since you saw her.”

“Excited,” Clarke replies with a bright smile. “She was my best friend growing up. We both have such different lives now, it’s gotta be fate bringing us together again,” she teases.

“Or the Force. You know how much Octavia goes on about the Force whenever I see her.” Bellamy chuckles.

“You know, you’re Octavia’s brother. Wouldn’t that make you Force sensitive too?” Bellamy and Octavia had never really known their parents, so there’s no way of telling if they were Force sensitive too, but it seems awfully likely.

“That’s what I’ve been told. But, as far as I can tell, I don’t have any special powers.” Bellamy laughs again. “Besides, that life isn’t really for me. I’d much rather be in the field with a blaster. I’m not one for all the rules and structure.”

“You and Octavia are way too alike,” Clarke smiles as she turns her attention back to the dirt road ahead of them. They’ve been climbing the mountain slowly for quite some time, and she can see the tops of buildings peeking through the trees. They’re getting closer to Voss-Ka.

Clarke turns, once again, to check on Lexa. She still looks as peaceful as ever, stretched out comfortably against the length of the back seat. Her feet are still in Nova’s lap, and the droid seems to have shut down sometime after they had left the outpost. Bellamy was right; she _is_ paranoid and she has every right to be. But, hopefully, that paranoia doesn’t have to last for much longer.

It’s getting dark as they approach Voss-Ka. Miller told them that the Jedi would be meeting them at a location outside of the city, as bringing Lexa inside would only cause a panic. The Republic wants to keep it a secret, at least until the Jedi have Lexa securely in their custody.

There are small tents and huts on the outskirts of Voss-Ka, set up by Republic soldiers to keep a look out, just in case any Imperials decide to scout out the area. It’s too dark to see anything when Bellamy slows the speeder to a stop near one of the huts. He shows his identification to one of the soldiers, and that allows Bellamy and Clarke to get out of the vehicle. Bellamy has the unfortunate job of lifting an unconscious Lexa out of the speeder and throwing her over his shoulder.

The two of them, as well as Nova, wander towards the front gates of the city, and that’s when Clarke spots the four hooded figures standing just out of plain sight. Clarke walks faster, and she can hear Bellamy’s footsteps behind her as she hurries towards the group.

She spots Octavia almost straight away; she’s the shortest amongst the four and even though it’s dark, she would recognise that smile anywhere. She hurries towards Octavia and wraps herself around the brunette as soon as she reaches her. Clarke holds on for dear life, and she can feel tears pricking her eyes. It’s been eight years since she’s seen her best friend, and Clarke’s sure she couldn’t have had any other reaction.

Octavia holds Clarke with an equal amount of enthusiasm, the two rocking from side to side until Clarke pulls away to look at the girl from arm’s length. She wipes her tears away with her sleeve, as she’s unable to see Octavia properly through her blurry vision. “God, sorry. I wasn’t expecting to cry,” Clarke laughs, and Octavia only gives her a winning smile in return.

“You were always the emotional one out of the two of us,” Octavia replies, and her smile quickly turns into a wide grin. She places her hand on Clarke’s cheek, her thumb gently brushing along her cheekbone. “It’s so good to see you, Clarke.”

“You too,” she murmurs quietly, smiling in return.

“I missed you.”

“I missed _you_ , O.”

The last time Clarke had seen Octavia, she was twelve. Now, Clarke’s looking at an entirely different person. The only things familiar to her are the warm (but fierce) eyes and the long brown hair. Even the way Octavia carries herself has changed dramatically. Clarke can instantly tell that she’s more mature and has done a lot of growing up. Something else she notices right away are the various scars on her face. They’re mostly tiny, but it’s proof that she hasn’t been messing around with the Jedi. She’s seen some serious action over the years.

Octavia then spots movement over Clarke’s shoulder. Letting go of Clarke’s arms, she rushes past the blonde and jumps into Bellamy’s arms. When Clarke turns, she can see that Bellamy has placed Lexa on the ground so he can embrace his sister, lifting her up off her feet.

As the siblings murmur quiet words to each other, Clarke watches as the other three hooded figures move past her go towards Lexa. The tallest and broadest one, the only male of the group, picks her up over his shoulder with ease.

“I am Lincoln of the Jedi Council. This is my Padawan, Luna, and Octavia’s Master, Indra.” Lincoln gestures to the women beside him. He looks towards the petite body over his shoulder. “Will she wake soon?”

Clarke nods. “Yes. It’s been hours since we left the outpost. I don’t think the dosage was that strong.”

Lincoln nods before leaning down to murmur something in Indra’s ear. Indra nods and calls out, “Octavia. Come.” Once Octavia separates from Bellamy and is back at Indra’s side, she continues, “We’ll take you all back to our safe house. You are welcome to stay there while we brief the rest of the Council.”

“What about her?” Bellamy asks as he eyes Lexa.

“Our safe house has a specific room for prisoners.”

Clarke finds herself frowning. Will Lexa just be a prisoner of the Republic for the rest of her life? Do the Jedi even _take_ prisoners? She isn’t really sure why she’s concerned, she had pointed a gun at the girl only a few hours ago.

Indra and Lincoln lead them into the city and towards their safe house. They have to take a lot of back streets and alleys to avoid being seen. Four hooded people carrying an unconscious girl probably isn’t the best look for the Jedi. There’s also a chance that someone could recognise Lexa, and the last thing they need is some overzealous bounty hunter coming to collect his prize.

The house looks as normal as any other, which Clarke guesses is the whole point of it. They enter the front door, and Lincoln immediately descends the staircase across the room, presumably down to where Lexa will be held. Luna follows him, while Indra takes a seat beside the fireplace in the corner of the spacious front room.

“Here,” Octavia says as she leads the rest of the group towards a door on the left. “I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”

Octavia looks even more different in the light. She’s taken her hood off and her features are even more defined to Clarke. Her creased brow seems like it’s permanent, as if she’s always worrying about something. As Clarke watches her move, she notices the flash of something silver by her waist. A double-edged lightsaber peeks out from the inside of her robe, and although Clarke knew she had one, it’s strange to see it up close.

Octavia leads the group into a room with bunks, and Clarke can’t help but smile at the familiarity of it all. “You’ll be with Luna and me. You’ll like Luna, she doesn’t speak much, but you can trust her. She’s a lot like Lincoln, the strong and silent type.” She laughs quietly before the room is silent again. “Is anyone else finding it strange that we’re all together again?”

Clarke laughs. “Very. But it’s a good feeling. I feel like this is the way it’s supposed to be.”

Octavia beams as she looks between Clarke and Bellamy fondly. Before she can reply, Indra speaks up from the other room, “Octavia, could you come out here?”

Octavia follows Indra’s command instantly, and it makes Clarke wonder how long it took Octavia to be obedient towards her master. She knows Octavia isn’t used to having someone telling her what to do; maybe this kind of structure has been a good thing for her.

Once they all re-enter the main room, Indra addresses them. “Octavia, you and Luna can alternate watching the prisoner while Lincoln and I brief the Council.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Hang on,” Clarke interrupts, and Indra glares lethally at her. She swallows heavily. “Uh, I was wondering if I could take first watch on Lexa.”

Octavia raises an eyebrow. “ _Lexa_?”

“That’s her name.”

“You’re on a first name basis with the _Sith_?” Octavia asks, disbelief coating her voice.

“I—”

Indra cuts Clarke off. “Lieutenant Miller told us about your little stunt with the prisoner today. We can’t take any more chances with you. We need her alive for now.”

“What stunt?” Octavia asks before narrowing her eyes at Clarke.

“She tried to kill the prisoner.” Lincoln explains to Octavia. “…But I believe she’ll behave herself this time around.” He gives Clarke a pointed look as he speaks. “I’d like Luna with me while we brief the Council. Octavia should be there, too.”

“I’ll definitely behave,” Clarke promises.

“Good, because Lieutenant Miller is coming to Voss-Ka tomorrow and I’d hate for you to not have a job by the time he leaves,” Indra says, her words cutting through Clarke like a sharp vibroblade.

Clarke winces slightly, but nods regardless.

“Okay. You can go down whenever you’re ready. You’ll be safe as long as you stay outside the cell,” Lincoln explains to her.

Clarke nods in acknowledgement. “Bellamy, you can stay up here.”

“But, I—”

“There are four Jedi here, I think I’ll be fine if something happens,” Clarke chuckles. “Go and get some rest. Please?”

Bellamy grumbles something that _sounds_ like acceptance, but Clarke isn’t quite sure. Once she’s free of both Bellamy and Nova, she gives Lincoln an appreciative nod and descends the stairs to where they’re keeping Lexa.

\------

Clarke’s always been very good at calculations. She knows exactly how much bacta to give someone in case of an injury, she knows exactly what medicine levels to give someone if she wants them to just be fuzzy or knocked out entirely, and she knows how long it takes for a specific dosage of sleeping gas to wear off.

Luckily, Lincoln trusts her enough with Lexa so that her plan works out smoothly.

And her calculations turn out to be correct.

Lexa begins stirring within the first half hour of Clarke being downstairs. The room where Lexa’s being held is almost like a secret bunker. It looks entirely different to the rest of the house; like it had been added on as an extension after the house was built. The cell in the room is much more sophisticated than the one at the outpost, and better equipped. Lincoln had put Lexa down on the bed in the corner of the cell, and provided her with food and water outside the cell for when she woke up.

Clarke guesses that it’s her job to take care of that.

She can’t explain why she wants to see Lexa again. Maybe it’s because she’s the only one Lexa’s spoken to so far, and she wants to finish their conversation from before. Maybe she’s just curious. Regardless, she can’t help but feel nervous when Lexa finally opens her eyes. She blinks rapidly, and her eyebrows furrow as if she’s trying to figure out where she is.

It only takes her a few moments to realise Clarke is in the room with her, and she manages to sit upright, even with the Force cuffs on.

What Clarke isn’t expecting, however, is for Lexa to be so hostile towards her.

“What the hell did you do to me?” She demands with a growl. She wriggles her wrists in an attempt to break the cuffs. “Where am I?”

“Voss-Ka. The capital city.” Clarke replies cautiously.

Lexa exhales through her nose. Clarke can tell she doesn’t like that. “What is the purpose of this?!” She hisses.

Narrowing her eyes, Clarke leans back against the chair she’s sitting in. “How about this… you ask me a question, I’ll answer. I’ll ask you a question, you answer. Sound fun?”

“This is _not_ a game.” Lexa spits.

“I never said it was a game,” Clarke replies. “I’m taking it very seriously.”

Lexa stares angrily at her. The intense stares she had been giving Clarke back at the outpost had nothing on these angry ones. If she stares any harder, Clarke’s sure her head will explode. Lexa’s jaw clenches. “Fine.”

“Great. It’s my turn to ask a question. Where are you from?”

“Next,” Lexa seethes.

Clarke rolls her eyes. “You can’t just skip questions.”

Lexa lets out a huff. “How about this, you tell me what you plan to do with me, and I will tell you anything you want to know. Within reason.”

Clarke narrows her eyes at the Sith. So, she _is_ good at this game after all. “Okay. We plan to deliver you to the Jedi. In fact, we already have. There are Jedi above us right now, talking with their Council, figuring out what to do with you.”

Clarke expects Lexa to be angry, but instead, the Sith scoffs. “Those fools wouldn’t _know_ what to do with me.”

“They know about your power, Lexa. You’re probably on every bounty board in the galaxy right about now,” Clarke taunts. “I’m sure the Hutts have a nice price on you. So when their bounty hunters capture you, they can deliver you to the Empire for even more credits.”

“I’d like to see them _try_ ,” Lexa spits. “I _dare_ them to.”

Clarke pauses for a minute as she watches Lexa. The taunting tone of her voice, it reminds her of the look Lexa gave her when she had the gun pointed at her head. Like she was almost daring Clarke to pull the trigger. This girl isn’t afraid of death at all. She stares it right in the face and mocks it for all to see.

Lexa leans back against the wall of the cell. “It’s good to know your plan though. Figuring out the holes will make my escape a lot easier.”

Clarke rolls her eyes. She may be talented, but there’s no way this Sith can escape when there are six people watching her, especially when four of them are Jedi. In some ways, Clarke thinks she’s all talk. She hasn’t seen a single piece of evidence to back up all of her words. “Whatever, now you owe me answers.”

Lexa shrugs carelessly. “Take your best shot.”

“Why are you running?”

The question clearly jars Lexa, as if she isn’t quite expecting it, and Clarke watches her closely. “Like I said earlier, there is much you don’t know. The Empire, the _Queen_ , wishes to use me, and I do not enjoy being used.”

Clarke narrows her eyes. “Because of your power?”

Lexa seems hesitant to answer, but does anyway. “Yes. They want to use me as a weapon, so I ran away.”

“Am I allowed to know what this power is?”

“I’m sure you’ll find out in due time.” Lexa answers with a raised eyebrow.

“Wait…” Clarke frowns. “If you’re a runaway Sith, then why aren’t you on our side? Any enemy of the Empire is a friend of the Republic. At least, I believe so.”

Lexa chuckles lightly. It’s the first time Clarke’s ever heard her laugh, and somehow it draws her in even more. “You forget, Clarke… You are the ones who captured me. Who tied me up. Who kept me locked away.” Lexa says, looking directly into Clarke’s eyes. “I have never once tried to harm you. You do not know what I want. I was never given a fair chance.”

“Then, what _do_ you want?”

“I don’t trust you enough to answer that,” Lexa answers simply. “You’re a little too trigger-happy for my taste.”

Clarke frowns at the Sith. Bringing up the gun incident is a low blow, but she’s sure she deserves it. She sits back in her chair, chewing on her lower lip. Clarke went down there knowing exactly what she thought of the Sith, but now, she feels nothing but confliction inside of her. She knows Lexa could be trying to trick her; trying to gain her trust just to backstab her later on, but there’s a nagging part of her that’s telling her that isn’t the case.

Lexa hasn’t even _spoken_ to anyone else. Clarke knows it has to be a positive step. Somehow.

\------

“She hasn’t attempted to attack us,” Lincoln explains. “Or even attempted to escape.”

“She could just be biding her time, Lincoln. She could have a plan up her sleeve that you are unaware of.” Anya tells Lincoln cautiously. “Sith are deceptive. They are masters at it. The Queen has clearly taught this one well.

“Be mindful, Lincoln,” another voice agrees. “Anya’s right. We have no idea what she’s planning. For all we know, the Queen could have sent her to infiltrate the Jedi.”

Octavia’s back straightens at Rey’s voice. It’s almost an unwritten rule that every time Rey speaks, you are to pay attention. Octavia’s been in front of the Council many times, due to her Master’s status, but it’s always surreal standing in front of Rey, even if it’s just a hologram of her. She had accomplished incredible things, and she remains an amazing Jedi, despite her age. She’s one of the people Octavia looks up to the most in the Order.

Lincoln sighs. “Yes, Masters. What do you suggest we do with her then?”

“Bringing her to the Jedi Temple sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but if she’s under our supervision, then I think that’s the safest thing to do,” Rey tells Lincoln.

“Master, if I may…” Indra speaks up, stepping forward to address the holograms in front of her. “This Sith is familiar to me. I may have faced her once before in battle. I wish to speak to her before we make any decisions about what to do with her. She is close to the Queen, yes, but I do not feel her presence within her.”

“You do not think she is being controlled?” Anya asks.

“I do not believe she is directly under the Queen’s influence. Her actions are her own. If the Queen has given her any orders, I believe I will be able to extract them from her.”

“We do not wish to _torture_ her, Indra,” Rey warns her. “Despite how much the Jedi Order has changed over the years, that is not our way.”

“I never suggested it, Master.” Indra replies, her face impassive. “I merely propose that you let me talk to her in private before you make up your minds.”

Octavia believes it’s a good idea. She has a lot of faith in her Master. Indra is probably the member of the Council that’s best suited for the job. She’s very good at reading people, and that kind of expertise is certainly needed in this situation. She can tell when people are lying. At least, she always knows when Octavia is lying to her. Usually, that involves Indra reprimanding her for sneaking around with whichever Padawan she’s sleeping with at the time.

Octavia thanks the stars that Luke Skywalker had rebuilt the Jedi Order with his own rules. Unfortunately, Indra is _not_ a fan of them.

Rey nods and only takes a moment to deliberate. “Very well. I don’t see how it could do any harm. Talk to her, and report back to us with what you discover.”

Indra nods. “Yes, Master.”

\------

Normally, Lexa isn’t one to spill her secrets.

Not that she calls what she told Clarke _secrets_. Apparently it’s all over the HoloNet anyway. Practically public knowledge if you know how to put two and two together.

Even if she was dying, she wouldn’t reveal anything personal about herself. Lexa decides that Clarke just has a persuasive nature about her. She looks like someone she can trust. However, Lexa knows better. She’s well aware that it’s probably a trick – luring someone in with that voice and those eyes. She’s sure people fall for it all the time.

The difference is that Lexa knows how games are played. Especially when the games involve tricking people.

Clarke manages to tell Lexa the outline of their plans for her, and a few little details about herself is a small price to pay for that. Clearly Clarke thinks that she’s going to stay locked up as a prisoner forever, but Lexa doesn’t share that idea with her.

Clarke’s called upstairs a short while later, the Jedi presumably finishing their meeting with the Council. An older woman replaces her, probably one of the Jedi that Clarke had mentioned. She has dark skin and short black hair. She has scars across her face, matching the ones that can be found all over Lexa’s body. This woman has certainly seen battle, and is completely unfazed by Lexa. She gives her an intense glare that rivals even her own.

Lexa thinks she’s just going to sit there and stare at her for the entirety of her watch, but the young Sith is surprised when the Jedi speaks to her.

“You and I have met before. We’ve faced each other in battle.” The woman says, her eyes expressing no emotion. “Felucia, about four years ago. The use of your power essentially won you the war. The planet fell to the Empire soon after.”

Lexa remembers. It was the first time the Queen had truly put her powers to the test. She’d done significant amounts of simulations back on Korriban, and she had carried out multiple missions on many planets, but the Queen wouldn’t let her use her power until she was sure that it would work. The Queen’s calculations had been correct, and she had won them the battle over Felucia.

Lexa doesn’t recognise the woman sitting in front of her. She’s faced many Jedi in battle, and many of those Jedi had fallen. The fallen are the ones that usually haunted her, not the ones who had survived.

“What is your name?”

The woman’s eyes flicker, like she’s surprised that Lexa is speaking to her. “I am Indra. Of the Jedi Council.”

The name is familiar to Lexa. The Queen had told her of all the Jedi Council members — Indra, Lincoln, Anya, Titus, and the rest. Presiding over them, at the head of the Council, is Rey. Rey is easily the most famous Jedi alive, and Lexa knows she earned her spot as the Council’s leader. Lexa’s studied the history of Rey, the Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren and his family before him. Lexa believes that harnessing this knowledge is essential.

“My Padawans are the ones who should be watching over you, but I wanted to see you for myself.” She pauses. “You and I both know that you could have used your power to escape by now. The Force cuffs restrict you, but I know you weren’t captured with Force cuffs.”

Lexa remains silent, waiting for a question to come.

“Why were you out there all by yourself? With no weapons?” Indra asks with a raised eyebrow. “Voss is a warzone.”

“My weapons were… misplaced,” Lexa replies carefully.

“Since you are seemingly wanted by both the Republic and the Empire, there is no way you would have made it through a warzone without being spotted by at least one side. Which leads me to think that you came to Voss using your power. Correct?”

Lexa’s eye twitches involuntarily. She doesn’t like how much this woman already knows about her situation.

Indra gives her a tight-lipped smile. That reaction seems to be exactly what she was hoping for. “So, assuming you came here using your power, that would suggest that you didn’t want to be found. You’re going to tell me why that is.”

“Why should I tell you anything?!” Lexa hisses. “You’re going to lock me up like an animal and throw away the key regardless of what I tell you!”

“No…” Indra says, shaking her head. “I can tell when you’re lying. You have telltale signs. That eye twitch was one of the bigger giveaways. Your mouth also twitches, and sometimes your jaw will clench. So, if you tell me the truth, I might consider _not_ locking you up.”

Lexa knows she shouldn’t trust a Jedi. She really shouldn’t. But if there’s any way she can get out of these cuffs and _somehow_ get her way back to the Queen, then she will. Clearly she’s done _serving_ the Queen, but if she comes face-to-face with her once more, she’ll do everything in her power to take her down.

When Lexa doesn’t answer, Indra speaks again. “I have a proposition for you. Now, if you tell me the truth, then taking it would be your best option. If you lie, then you will be kept in those Force cuffs as we take you to Coruscant. You will be a prisoner of the Jedi until we decide what to do with you. Since you have killed hundreds or even thousands of people, I would say your odds of survival will not be good.”

Lexa isn’t normally one to spill her secrets, but this time, she might spill just one. She narrows her eyes. “What proposition?”

\------

Clarke wakes the next morning to arguing in the main room. It takes her a few moments to realise where she is, before remembering that she’s no longer in her bunk at the outpost. She rubs her eyes, realising she actually feels refreshed and energized for the first time in a long time.

Sleeping on an actual bed probably had something to do with it.

She looks around and sees that Bellamy is stirring in his bunk, but Luna is completely dead to the world on the other side of the room. Octavia’s nowhere to be seen, and the voices outside sound a lot like Indra and Lincoln.

Clarke pushes herself off the bed and heads towards the door, curious to see what the fighting is about. She pokes her head out the doorway, and she can see that it is Indra and Lincoln fighting. Octavia’s standing off to the side with a frown, and that only morphs into a look of worry when she spots Clarke.

Clarke steps out tentatively, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “…What’s going on?”

Lincoln’s jaw clenches. “Indra has made our little Sith friend a deal.”

Clarke narrows her eyes. “What kind of deal?”

“One where _she_ walks free!”

Indra rolls her eyes. “She will _not_ be walking free. She will be guarded.”

Clarke doesn’t like the sound of it. “By who?!”

“You. Along with Bellamy and Octavia.”

Clarke’s eyes flit towards Octavia for a moment before she looks back at Indra. “There is absolutely no way that is happening. I don’t take orders from you, or anyone on your Council.”

“Although Lincoln disagrees, this was a matter discussed by the Council and Republic Command. You take orders from Republic Command, do you not?” Indra asks with a raised eyebrow.

Clarke clenches her fists until her knuckles turn white. “What the hell changed? And why the hell aren’t _you_ doing it instead of us?! One Padawan, two soldiers and a droid are no match for a Sith!”

“Lincoln and I are the Jedi Generals for the war effort here on Voss. We cannot just abandon out post to play guard duty,” Indra explains calmly, despite Clarke’s hostility. “And you do not know the full story. You will deliver her to the Jedi where she will meet with the Council.”

Clarke takes a step closer to Indra, no longer feeling threatened by the Jedi. “And what happens when she turns on us? I’m sure she’ll just use a vibroblade to carve our organs out while we sleep. She then goes free, straight back to her Queen!”

“If you _listen_ to me for five minutes, you will discover that she is not working for the Queen,” Indra seethes, taking a step towards Clarke herself. Despite being around the same height as Clarke, she’s twice as menacing. “She _escaped_ the Queen. The Queen is trying to harness her power.”

“That’s just the story she’s telling you. That’s the story she told _me_. She’s lying.” Clarke replies immediately, glaring directly at Indra.

“There are many pieces of the puzzle that you are missing,” Indra tells her. “And, besides, weren’t you the first to get her to speak? She clearly sees something in you that makes you trustworthy.”

Clarke takes a step back as she watches Indra cautiously. “How do you know about that?”

“Like I said, she and I have come to an understanding. She told me what she wanted, and I offered her a way out.”

“I asked her what she wanted and she didn’t tell me. What makes you think I’ll believe that she told you?” Clarke fires back.

“You clearly do not understand how the Force works,” Indra scoffs. “Lexa is not the only one with unique abilities. Hers just happens to be more deadly.”

Clarke can’t help but chuckle humourlessly. “Fine. Give us our ‘orders’, but once we’re dead, we all know who to _fucking_ blame.”

Clarke turns to leave, but she feels Indra grab her wrist tightly. The woman’s free hand is hovering over her lightsaber threateningly. “Do _not_ test me, girl.” She spits.

Octavia moves forward to step between them. Clarke then realises that Bellamy has also woken due to the commotion and has entered the room. His gun is pointed directly at Indra.

“Master, please…” Octavia says quietly, placing her hand lightly on Indra’s arm. With a growl, Indra drops Clarke’s wrist and steps away from the blonde.

Clarke lets out a heavy breath in order to calm herself down. “I just don’t understand why we have to deliver her without the cuffs on. Wouldn’t it be safer with them on?”

Lincoln steps forward. “I don’t like this at all, but if the Council — if _Rey_ — believed she was a true threat, then she wouldn’t give you this mission. Indra’s instincts are rarely wrong, and besides, if she truly is against the Queen, then she is on our side. At least for the time being. There will be people from the Empire, assassins, bounty hunters and even common citizens after her. She will need to be able to defend herself. You can’t drag her across the galaxy in cuffs.”

“The things I spoke about with Lexa were private,” Indra adds, giving Clarke another warning glare. “She and I have a lot more in common than you all realise, and we share common goals. If I trust her, then I ask you to trust in me. She will be useful to you.”

“I trust Indra,” Octavia says, nodding at her Master before she turns towards Clarke. “If the Jedi Council tells me to go, then I’ll go.”

Clarke knows she has more of a choice than that. She can just quit the Republic military and go back to her home planet with Bellamy. Octavia’s bound to the Jedi, but Clarke isn’t technically bound to the Republic.

She has a choice. She knows that. But she also knows that when she looks back on it, she’ll realise that despite her animosity towards the mission, obeying her commands and trusting in the Council was the right thing to do. And she always strives to do the right thing.

Clarke runs a hand through her hair before letting out a heavy sigh. This is _not_ how she wanted this mission to go. Not only is Indra’s plan the worst idea she’s ever heard, but there’s a very good chance she won’t survive it. She turns towards Bellamy, knowing that she’s potentially putting him in danger as well if she says yes. He looks worried, but she knows he’s up for any challenge.

Clarke leans back towards him. “What do you think?”

“I think… you don’t have much of a choice if you wanna keep your job. And what’s the alternative? She rots in a prison cell on Coruscant until the Queen comes looking for her? She has an endless amount of apprentices at her disposal. If the Queen wants her that badly, she’ll find her eventually.” He pauses. “We don’t have to trust her, we just have to make sure she doesn’t double-cross us. The Jedi are more knowledgeable than us, maybe we should trust them.”

Clarke is surprised that Bellamy’s taken to it so willingly. She seems to be the only one that _doesn’t_ want to do it.

“Nova and I will protect you, Clarke, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not worried about me.” Clarke shakes her head. “I’m worried about you, and Octavia, and anyone else associated with us. She’s dangerous, Bellamy. She could kill us easily. She has no reason to stay loyal to us.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to be extra careful around her.” Bellamy replies with a sigh.

Clarke lowers her voice so the others can’t hear. “This is insane.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“My mom’s not gonna like it. Did you ever think about that?”

“That’s the only thing on my mind, Clarke. But maybe… maybe we don’t have to tell her about this one.”

“Now _that’s_ insane.”

“Maybe it is.”

Clarke lets out a heavy breath, rolling her eyes as she turns back around to face the group. Everyone’s watching her expectantly, and she’s never felt so much weight on her shoulders before. “Fine. We’ll do it.”

Clarke’s quite sure that she’s just signed her own death warrant.

\------

Indra and Lincoln wait until later in the day, when Lieutenant Miller has arrived at the safe house, to officially brief the group on their mission. Miller doesn’t look too thrilled about the assignment either, but his orders have also come from above, so he keeps his mouth shut as the information is relayed to Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia.

The details of the mission are rather simple: the three of them are to deliver Lexa to the Jedi Council, guarding her from anything that the Empire and the Queen decide to throw their way. She will be free from the Force cuffs, and the Council hopes that means they will gain Lexa’s trust. Clarke has a feeling that this particular girl doesn’t trust as easily as others did.

Lexa being free also brings the danger of her turning on them or running away, but Indra remains adamant that won’t happen. Indra isn’t the type of person to let anything cloud her judgement, so Clarke can’t help but believe her, even if only a tiny bit. Clarke is still desperate to know what the two of them had spoken about.

Lieutenant Miller concludes the briefing with one last note, “The only thing you guys need now is a pilot with a ship. We can arrange a shuttle to take you wherever you need to go to find one, but it’s not wise to keep travelling on shuttles. You’ll need a pilot that won’t ask questions and won’t turn you in.”

“I’ll travel with you on the shuttle, just to make sure Lexa keeps our end of the deal,” Indra adds.

“Will we ever get to know what this deal is?” Clarke asks with a raised eyebrow. She’s tired, and still completely unimpressed by the whole idea. She’s one hundred percent sure that this is going to backfire in their faces.

“If Lexa chooses to tell you, then you will.”

Clarke snorts and rolls her eyes. Lexa wouldn’t tell her if her hair was on fire. Just getting the girl’s name was an effort in itself. Deciding to drop the topic, she replies, “So, we need a pilot, huh?”

“Someone you trust is probably best,” Miller suggests.

“Oh, because we wouldn’t want to travel with anyone we _don’t_ trust,” Clarke says, making a show of rolling her eyes again. They’re already travelling with Lexa, Clarke doesn’t think it can get any worse.

“Clarke,” Bellamy says. The blonde turns towards him, raising an eyebrow. “What about Raven?”

Clarke’s eyes widen slightly. “Raven would be perfect. She lives for this sort of thing.”

“And you know she wouldn’t rat us out to anyone.” Bellamy continues before shrugging at Clarke. “She could be our only option.”

“And she’s a _good_ option,” Clarke agrees. “The only problem is we don’t know where the hell she is now. We haven’t seen her in, what, six months? At least.” The last time Clarke remembers seeing Raven was when she was doing some work for the Republic on Corellia. Since then, she hasn’t heard from her. That isn’t too much of a surprise though, that’s just the way Raven is. She isn’t a Republic pilot, she’s freelance, so she could be anywhere in the galaxy.

“And who exactly is Raven?” Octavia asks, her eyes narrowing.

“Someone we met on Corellia. When Clarke was doing her training.” Bellamy explains.

“Yeah, Raven and your brother have history.”

Bellamy snorts. “We do not.”

“You _wish_ you did though.” Clarke shoots back, raising both of her eyebrows at him.

Bellamy rolls his eyes, but doesn’t deny it. Clarke knew that he wouldn’t. Bellamy and Raven had fiery chemistry, to the point where people on Hoth could probably feel the heat. They never acted on it though. They were never in the same place for more than a day at a time. Clarke always thought it was ridiculous. If you had feelings for someone, why wouldn’t you act on it?

“Is there some way we can find this… Raven?” Indra cuts in.

“Actually…” Clarke begins, a smile appearing on her face. “What about Monty? The only way I can think of finding her is tracking her, and Monty basically gets paid to do that back on Corellia. At the very least, he can find out which spaceport she’s docked at.”

Monty Green is quite possibly the most brilliant person that Clarke knows. Born and raised on Corellia, he was born to work for the Republic. He’s one of the brightest young minds that the Republic has ever seen. Clarke met him her first time on Corellia, and she had watched him rise through the ranks over the years. She’s very proud of him, and rather protective over him. He’s one of the few people Clarke keeps in touch with over holomessage when she can.

So, she’s more than excited to be able to use the holoterminal to call him. Back at the outposts, they barely had time to call their families, let alone any of their off-world friends. Despite the fact that this mission is more than dangerous, Clarke’s happy for all the reunions.

“Clarke!” Monty yells as soon as his hologram appears. Despite being just a hologram, Monty’s face is as lively as ever. “God, it’s so good to see you! When are you getting your butt back to Corellia?”

Clarke smiles brightly. “Hopefully really soon, Monty. And I promise, we’ll go for drinks as soon as I do.”

“I’m holding you to that. I need my wingwoman back.”

Clarke rolls her eyes playfully. “Monty, you don’t _need_ a wingwoman.”

Indra clears her throat beside Clarke and gives her a pointed look.

Clarke frowns. “Right. Uh, Monty, we need your help.”

“I can tell,” Monty says. He makes a point to look at everyone in the room. “Who are all your friends?”

“Well, you remember Bellamy,” Clarke gestures towards Bellamy. “And this is his sister, Octavia. This is her Master, Indra. This is Lincoln and Luna, and this is my superior, Lieutenant Miller.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard the name Miller before. I think the words ‘slave driver’ also came up once in conversation.” Monty jokes.

“Monty!” Clarke hisses. She would have been mortified. That is, if she was the only one in the room blushing. Which she certainly wasn’t.

Clarke had absolutely no idea that Miller was even capable of blushing.

She smirks. She’s always glad to have something to hold over her boss. “Are you okay there, Miller? Should we leave you two alone?”

“Oh, please do.” Monty says, a cheeky grin forming on his face.

Clarke laughs. “See? No wingwoman required.”

Monty looks at Miller for a moment longer before returning his attention back to Clarke. “Alright, what do you need?”

“You remember Raven?”

“Who could _forget_ Raven?”

Clarke smiles. “Very true. Okay, so we need to find out where she is. We need to hire her for a job.”

Monty chuckles. “She’ll be happy to have the extra credits. You want me to track her down?”

“Please.”

“Tracking her ship would be the best bet. God knows what she’s done to her holo over the years.” Monty mutters, beginning to type on his keyboard.

Raven does all sorts of things to her technology. Her last holo, Clarke had to go through four security questions _just_ to be able to call her. Raven had told her someone was hunting her. That ‘someone’ was probably a poor soul that Raven had scammed. Clarke wonders what she’s done to her ship over the past four years. It had been a hunk of metal and some spare parts the first time they met.

“Uh oh,” Monty frowns after a few minutes of typing. His brows furrow as he looks at his screen. “You guys aren’t gonna like this.”

“What is it?” Clarke asks.

“I’ve located Raven’s ship.”

“And?”

“She’s docked on Ylesia. She’s in Hutt space.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten some amazing comments on this fic, especially on the last chapter. So thank you so much for the feedback! The detailed comments definitely drive me to write more for you guys.
> 
> I know people will probably mention it, but the Indra/Lexa thing will be revisited and explained later on. Just so you're aware!
> 
> The next chapter is a big one! We finally meet Raven who is my favourite character in this besides Lexa. And speaking of Lexa, we'll finally get to see her free!


	4. Four

“What the hell is Raven doing in Hutt space?” Clarke huffs as she paces back and forth across the room. Truly, it isn’t that much of a surprise. Raven’s known to do all kinds of reckless things. She always has a point to prove, and she’s often found gambling with rich people. She’s intelligent and calculating, causing her to win most of the games she plays. Hustling people is a specialty of Raven’s, which is why she tends to make so many enemies.

Once they got off the holo with Monty, Miller leaves to go back to the outpost while Indra and Octavia start to gather their things. Lincoln and Luna disappear downstairs to take the next watch on Lexa, and presumably, to update her on the plan.

“Just be thankful she’s not on Nar Shaddaa,” Bellamy grunts. “Now _that’s_ scum city.”

Clarke shakes her head. “No, Raven would never go back to her home world. You know what it was like for her there, she lived on the streets for most of her life. I just don’t understand why she tangles with the same type of people all the time.”

“Because this is _Raven_ we’re talking about. When is anything straightforward with her?”

“And _this_ is the girl you wanted to hook up with?” Octavia asks, giving her brother an incredulous look.

Bellamy scowls at her as Clarke runs a hand through her hair. She’s having a hard time processing all of the information. “We have enough things to worry about without her causing trouble.”

“Well… we don’t _know_ she’s causing any trouble. We have to go see her to find that out.”

Clarke turns towards Indra, who’s still moving around the room. “Will the shuttle take us to Ylesia? I didn’t know Republic shuttles entered Hutt space.”

“They don’t,” Indra replies gruffly. “But they will have to make an exception in this case. You have no other way of getting there undetected without a pilot of your own. Lexa will be best disguised on a Republic vessel. You better hope that this Raven chooses to help you, or else you’ll be stuck there.”

One of the things Clarke knows about Hutt space is that they aren’t exactly fond of the Republic. Or the Empire, for that matter. It’s wild space; there are no laws. Hutt space is governed by credits and credits alone. The Hutts run everything with unwritten rules and the bounty hunters they hire enforced them. There are more bounty hunters in Hutt space than there are regular citizens, which is going to make hiding Lexa a lot harder.

If she’s all over the HoloNet, then somebody’s bound to recognize her. A group of four humans and a droid is definitely going to draw some attention in Hutt space. Clarke’s never had to face a bounty hunter before, and she’s not looking forward to it.

“How is this all going to work? With Lexa?” Clarke asks Indra curiously.

“Lincoln will escort her up here, take the cuffs off her and we will board the shuttle,” Indra replies. “I thought the plan was very simple.”

“It is,” Clarke says cautiously. “I was just wondering when exactly you were planning to free her. Now I know.”

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” Bellamy asks, narrowing his eyes at her.

“I never had _first_ thoughts, Bellamy.” Clarke sighs. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“It won’t be a bad idea once you get her to the Council and she helps us win this war,” Indra replies shortly. Clarke knows Indra’s fed up with her attitude, but she can’t help but be cautious. She has to cover every single base if she’s going to succeed on this mission.

Clarke’s eyebrow raises at her choice of words, but she doesn’t question it. Clearly part of Indra and Lexa’s deal involves stopping the Empire, and by extension, the Queen. First, they thought Lexa was there on the Queen’s wishes, now she wants to stop the Queen? Clarke isn’t sure how one person can do a complete turnaround in a matter of hours. Unless, they really _can_ trust Lexa, and she’s been honest all along.

Clarke’s head is starting to hurt.

Clarke feels an elbow nudge her arm. She looks up to see Bellamy standing next to her, trying to get her attention. She turns towards where he was looking, just in time to see Lincoln and Luna leading Lexa up the staircase. The Sith looks as calm as always; Clarke knows anyone else in her position wouldn’t be. She stands tall with her back straight, staring straight ahead. Clarke knows that Sith are rather proud, and even while a prisoner, Lexa maintains that.

Now that Clarke knows who she is and what she’s capable of, she’s almost nervous being this close to Lexa without a cell’s force field to separate them. The last thing she needs, though, is for Lexa to somehow sense that she’s anxious. Clarke needs to have as much power as possible in the situation.

Clarke doesn’t miss the small nod that Indra gives Lexa when the girl’s eyes settle on her. It was like Lexa was looking to her for reassurance. Maybe she doesn’t trust Indra as much as everyone thought she did. Though, Clarke has a feeling that Lexa just doesn’t trust anyone.

Clarke holds her breath as Lincoln releases her from the cuffs. It seems like the rest of the room has done so too, because Clarke feels like the whole world has stopped around her. Everyone is still and silent as soon as she’s free, like they’re waiting for the slaughter to happen at any moment. Lexa does nothing except stretch her arms slightly and rotate her wrists to regain movement. She doesn’t make eye contact with anyone in the room. It’s like nobody else is there besides her.

The first one to make a move is Indra, who picks up two items that are leaning against the wall and brings them over to Lexa.

Bellamy is the first to break the silence. “Okay, I was fine with this before… but now you’re giving her _weapons_?” He asks with disbelief. “That’s the same as inviting her to kill us ourselves.”

Lexa ignores him. Sure enough, there are two vibroblades hidden beneath the sheath that Indra gives her. Lexa examines them closely, and when she decides they’re to her liking, she re-sheathes them in her belt. Clarke wonders what happened to her lightsaber. Maybe it’s _lightsabers_ as it seems she prefers to dual wield.

Everyone is painfully silent as they watch Lexa with the blades, and Clarke takes it upon herself to ease the tension. “The more weapons, the better, I say. Just as long as she uses them on the right people.”

“You would know all about that,” Lexa mutters under her breath, but everyone turns towards her anyway.

Clarke probably deserved that.

Octavia breaks the new silence that had fallen over them. “So, when is this shuttle leaving?”

“Whenever we’re ready to go,” Indra answers.

“I’m ready,” Clarke says abruptly, brushing past Bellamy and walking straight out the front door of the safe house. Bellamy sighs heavily and follows behind, while Nova trails after them. Octavia follows shortly after and Lexa dawdles in the front room with Indra. Clarke doesn’t care; the less contact she has with her, the better.

Indra says her goodbyes to Lincoln and Luna, promising them that she will be on the next shuttle back to Voss once the group has been delivered to Ylesia. Voss-Ka isn’t a large place, so the walk to the spaceport isn’t long. Clarke, Bellamy and Nova walk a good length ahead of the others. Octavia hangs back, unsure whether to be with her brother or with her Master.

Clarke only looks back at Lexa a couple of times, and each time the Sith looks more and more at ease. Still rather alert, but much less tense than she had been when they first met. Maybe all she wanted was to get out of the cuffs.

Clarke knows she could’ve easily run away by now, but she hadn’t. Clearly, her deal with Indra was rock-solid, for whatever reason.

She’s itching to find out what it is.

One they arrive at the spaceport, Indra’s able to get them to the shuttle with relative ease. They don’t have to pass through any sort of security checks. A Jedi General perk, Clarke guesses. Usually on Republic shuttles, there’s a whole range of passengers going to the destination, but since they’re heading to Hutt space, they’re the only ones on board. Clarke’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not. She might want witnesses if Lexa tries to kill them all.

She knows she really needs to stop thinking about that.

Clarke slumps down in one of the shuttle’s seats. It isn’t until the shuttle takes off that Clarke notices the seating arrangements. Bellamy’s given Clarke some space, sitting a row behind her with Octavia. Indra sits alone. Her eyes are closed, but she’s presumably focusing all of her energy on Lexa’s every move. And then, there’s Lexa. Lexa had chosen to sit in an entirely different section, staring blankly ahead of her, like she was lost in another world.

Clarke tries her best not to stare, but considering she’s never come across anyone like Lexa before, it proves to be difficult. She understands why Lexa doesn’t want to be social with this particular group of people, but she’s completely disconnected. They’re going to be on the shuttle for a few hours, and Clarke knows she can’t just sit there staring at Lexa the entire time.

Clarke’s far too curious for her own good.

It takes about an hour of her mustering up the courage, but she eventually gets up out of her seat. She wanders over to Lexa slowly, and she can feel Bellamy and Octavia’s eyes on her. She hopes that they won’t be on edge the entire time trying to protect her. Not only does she _not_ need the protection, but they can’t keep the divide between them and Lexa forever. Indra will be gone when the shuttle lands in Ylesia, and someone will have to bridge the gap between them.

Hovering beside Lexa is awkward at first. Clarke isn’t sure if she should sit, but standing over her could be seen as vaguely threatening. Lexa obviously knows she’s there, but it takes a few moments for her to lift her eyes to meet Clarke’s. Her gaze is questioning, like she’s searching for an answer before even asking the question.

“You can sit,” Lexa says. “I do not own the seat.”

Clarke’s lip twitches. The girl can crack a joke.

Still, Clarke sits in the seat beside her. She makes sure to sit on the very edge so that she isn’t too close. The vibroblades Indra had given her are lying across the seats adjacent to her. Clarke feels a little safer with them just out of reach. Lexa’s still looking at her, and it’s incredibly unnerving.

“Look, I’m…” Clarke begins, but stops when she sees Lexa’s raised eyebrow. “…You already know what I’m going to say.” She sighs. “Is that a Force thing?”

“No, Clarke.” Lexa shakes her head, “it’s a human thing.”

Clarke sighs again, but continues anyway. “Look, I still don’t trust you. At all. But the gun thing was a little overboard.”

Lexa looks like she wants to make some sort of snarky remark, but she doesn’t.

“So yeah…” Clarke continues slowly. “I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted, Clarke,” Lexa replies simply. “I know what you think of me, but I promise that my goal has nothing to do with you. Or eliminating you.”

“Then what _is_ your goal?” Clarke asks, narrowing her eyes. “Indra told us that you’re not working for the Queen at all. Is that true?”

“Indra should not have told you anything,” Lexa cuts in quickly. “Maybe I was wrong to make this deal with her.”

“She’s a Jedi. If you can’t trust her, then you can’t trust anyone.”

“I _don’t_ trust anyone,” Lexa replies casually. “And for good reason, too.”

“You never trusted your Queen?”

“No. She creates loyalty through fear, not trust.” Lexa pauses. “Blindly putting your faith in someone like the Queen only leads to suffering down the line.”

Clarke narrows her eyes slightly. She tries her best to catch Lexa’s every word. “So you’ve suffered? At the hands of the Queen…?”

“No,” Lexa snaps, and although she denied it, Clarke knows she was on to something there. It seems that Lexa is an expert at immediately shutting down any conversation she doesn’t like. The Sith lifts her head, daring to look at the shuttle’s other occupants. Indra looks like she’s meditating, and Bellamy and Octavia are sitting with their heads close together, mumbling discreetly. If Lexa tried hard enough, she would be able to hear them, but she leaves it alone. “Who is Bellamy anyway?” She asks abruptly, causing Clarke to turn back towards her.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he is clearly not a real soldier. He lacks the discipline.” She purses her lips thoughtfully. “ _You_ also lack the discipline, but I sense there are other reasons for you joining the Republic forces. Am I correct?”

Clarke flushes bright red. “There _are_ , but they’re personal. As for Bellamy… he’s a friend. It’s complicated.”

“A special friend, I presume.” Lexa replies, looking directly ahead.

Clarke snorts involuntarily, and the sound makes Lexa turn back towards her. “He’s basically my brother. That would just be… wrong. On all accounts.”

“Hm,” is all Lexa replies with. Clarke’s sure that Lexa doesn’t believe her for a second, but it makes her wonder why she’s so interested in the first place. Regardless, Clarke isn’t going to let Lexa ask questions about her personal life when she’s getting no answers in return.

“Am I allowed to ask you any questions, or are you just going to shut those down too?”

Lexa raises an eyebrow. “You may ask, I may not answer.”

“Okay then… What exactly is your power?”

Lexa stops for a moment, thinking about her answer. “It’s not something I can explain to you. I would have to show you.”

At least Clarke’s getting somewhere. “And what does the Queen want with it?”

“If she harnessed its full power, she would be able to control armies in a way nobody else ever has. The Empire would win this war without even having to try. They could take planets like Coruscant and Corellia in an instant. The Republic wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Clarke swallows heavily as she thinks of her home world. It’s in the Core Worlds, the center of the Republic. Clarke is sure that her planet would be taken over just as easily as the others, despite the large population and the military. She wouldn’t let that happen. Maybe she and Lexa do share a common goal after all. “…So, you ran.”

“More or less. ‘Escaped’ is the word I would use.”

Clarke narrows her eyes. “She was holding you against your will,” she says quietly. It’s more of a statement than a question.

Lexa doesn’t confirm or deny Clarke’s statement. “She and I do not share the same ideals. On Korriban, we are all brought up to believe the same things. That the Empire should rule the galaxy. That the previous Emperor was someone we should all worship. That people like Luke and Rey were the real villains. As children, you believe what you are told, but it is once we reach adulthood that the Academy starts to get nervous. They do not want anyone to stray from the herd, and I suppose the Queen could see that I was straying. With my power, she could not let that happen.”

Clarke stays silent as she tries to take it all in. The more Lexa speaks, the more questions Clarke has about her. On the surface, it sounds like Lexa’s revealing a lot to her, but Clarke is still missing larger puzzle pieces that are integral to finishing the picture. She knows this girl would never open up to her in a million years, but it’s clear that Lexa knows she has to reveal _something_ in order to make this trip bearable for everyone. “When did you start to realise it?”

“I studied a lot. More than most at the Academy. It always calmed my mind. In the end, you see that the Empire are not always doing what is best for the galaxy. Only for themselves.” Her pause is thoughtful. “History tends to repeat itself unless someone is willing to do what it takes to change it.”

Clarke’s surprised that Lexa has such an open mind for a) a Sith, and b) one so young. Any Sith apprentice at her age would be wild, volatile, and have a one-track-mind. Clarke assumes that Lexa had to grow up fast, especially considering her power. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Sith like you,” she replies offhandedly.

“I doubt you have ever actually sat down and had a conversation with one either,” Lexa replies. She raises her eyebrow once again.

Lexa has a point. Clarke’s usually either shooting at Sith or being told to retreat so that the Jedi can fight them off. She’s never really faced one toe-to-toe, let alone have a mission involving one. “You’re right, I haven’t.”

“So how do you rate me then? As the first Sith you have ever really talked to?” Lexa asks. There’s a rare glint of amusement in her eyes that has Clarke even more curious.

Clarke snorts, and the sound causes Lexa’s lips to twitch upwards. “We’ll see. I haven’t quite decided yet.”

Lexa only nods, and it’s clear to Clarke that the Sith is also still deciding for herself.

\------

Clarke’s only becoming more nervous as they get closer to Ylesia. She moved back over to Bellamy and Octavia after speaking with Lexa, and Octavia had jumped on her almost instantly, asking Clarke as many questions as possible about her. Although Octavia is the model student and apprentice in front of Indra, Clarke knows her better than that. As soon as Indra leaves, she knows there would be friction between Lexa and the younger Padawan. It makes her even more anxious, because not only is Lexa older and much more experienced, but she doesn’t seem to be the type to back down from a fight. Especially when the fight involves a Jedi.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she realises she has more pressing matters to attend to. They still have to find Raven somewhere on this planet, and that’s not going to be an easy task. Not only is Ylesia an entire _planet_ to search, but there would be many obstacles in their way.

Being in Hutt space only made matters worse. There would be all types of people looking for Lexa, and none of them will want to stop and chat.

Once they dock at the spaceport of Peace City, the capital of Ylesia, Indra is on her feet immediately. Lexa is the last to stand up, and Clarke doesn’t miss the very obvious glare that Octavia gives the Sith on her way out. At first, Clarke thought this mission was a bad idea _just_ because of Lexa. Now she knows it’s going to be even worse than she thought. The more people that joined their little crew, the more complicated it was going to get.

If Octavia is just the tip of the iceberg, then Raven is the whole planet of Hoth.

Clarke sighs heavily as she gets up out of her seat, following Bellamy out of the shuttle and down the ramp. Once her feet hit the metal floor of the spaceport, she instantly feels warmer. The planet has a tropical climate, and its day cycle is only ten hours long. Less time for Raven to spend in the cantina, Clarke thinks.

Indra is standing with Lexa once Clarke exits the shuttle. The two of them are discussing something quietly, Lexa nodding along to Indra’s words. The relationship Lexa already has with Indra is unlike her relationship with anybody else in their party. Lexa barely even listens when the others speak, but she hangs on to Indra’s every word.

Once the two have finished their conversation, Indra turns to face the rest of them. “You are all on your own now. You have your mission, and you all know what to do.” She nods, turning towards Octavia. “I expect frequent updates from you. I will keep my holo on at all times.”

“Yes, Master.” Octavia replies firmly, nodding quickly at Indra.

“The Council is really trusting you with this,” Indra explains. “All of you,” she adds, punctuating her statement by looking directly at Lexa. It seems that Indra isn’t one hundred percent sure she can trust Lexa after all.

That’s all a part of the challenge. Right?

 “And the Republic is counting on you. Don’t let any of us down.” Indra says, almost as a warning. Clarke’s used to her tone of voice by now, though. It isn’t as threatening to her now as it had been when they first met.

With another quick nod, Indra boards the shuttle and disappears for good. Once they’re all alone, Clarke can feel the tension quickly rising again. They’re still standing in the hangar bay, and it’s like nobody wants to make the first move, or be the first to speak. Indra had been their buffer, and none of them would have gone for Lexa, or vice versa, when Indra was around.

Somehow, Clarke knows that Octavia’s new-found maturity was too good to be true.

“Okay,” the young Padawan says, taking the necessary amount of steps so that she’s squared up to Lexa. “This is how this mission will work.”

“O…” Bellamy warns.

“No, Bell, she needs to listen. This mission will go exactly like this: we tell you what to do, and you do it. No exceptions, no funny business. You understand?”

Lexa only raises an eyebrow at her, clearly amused at her attempt to put her in line. Clarke doesn’t like where this is going. She understands that this is Octavia’s first solo mission without her master, and therefore wants to do it right, but she can’t if she’s threatening Lexa. They need the least amount of tension in the group, even though she knows that won’t be possible once Raven’s around.

“Hey!” Octavia says, her voice now at a higher volume. She lifted one arm and poked Lexa square in the chest with her finger. “I’m talking to you, Sith! You better have an answer for me. This is not a joke.”

“No,” Lexa agrees, “but _you_ are.”

With a growl, Octavia’s hands fly to her lightsaber. Clarke isn’t sure what possesses her to jump in between an angry Jedi and a Sith, but before she knows it, she’s standing between the two women and giving Octavia a warning look. Lexa has her hands on the vibroblades on her belt, ready to use them at any moment. Clarke’s sure that Lexa could cut Octavia down in an instant, even _without_ a lightsaber.

“O, relax.” Clarke murmurs, raising both of her eyebrows at the Jedi. It’s then that she notices where her hands had landed. In the flurry of everything, when she had stepped between the two of them, Clarke had unintentionally placed her hand against Lexa’s stomach in order to wedge between them. However, as soon as she realises, she recoils her hand quickly without even looking at Lexa.

Talking to a Sith is one thing. _Touching_ one seems completely suicidal.

“We have a mission to do. We can’t spend the entire time at each other’s throats,” Clarke explians to Octavia, once she finally gets a hold of herself. “We’re both on the same side. At least, for the moment,” she says quietly, glancing over at Lexa.

Clarke’s intervention is enough for Octavia to keep her mouth shut. This allows them to finally leave the spaceport without any drama. Hutt worlds are not as strict as planets like Voss, so using the customs terminal is a breeze. There’s no need for them to enter any record of who they are, so the Empire won’t be able to find them on this system.

Now all they have to worry about is the people that are already there.

Bounty hunters are masters of stealth, and they’re usually in disguise. Clarke hopes that Octavia and Lexa’s skills are fine-tuned enough to be able to tell the difference.

“We should go and get a drink while we’re here,” Bellamy suggests, and Octavia gives him one of her infamous glares.

“We’re not here on a holiday, Bell.”

“No… but when was the last time any of us actually got to relax?” Bellamy asks. “It’s not like the Jedi and the Republic will be monitoring us the whole time. And besides, Raven is bound to be at one of these cantinas, right?”

Clarke has to admit, the man makes a compelling argument. If they’re going to find Raven, it will likely be at one of the most popular cantinas. Lexa looks completely unamused by the whole idea, but Clarke’s sure she would go along with it if it meant finding Raven. Clarke wonders if the girl has ever had a drink in her life.

“Let’s hope she’s not at a cantina,” Octavia replies. “If Raven’s drunk, she won’t exactly be fit to fly a starship.”

“You’ve clearly never met Raven,” Clarke mutters, causing Bellamy to laugh.

\------

The first cantina they reach is a total bust. It’s late afternoon, and it’s stifling hot. The place is filled with not only humans, but a large array of alien species as well. Clarke doesn’t like being around this many people when they’re with Lexa. It makes them an instant target for anyone who recognises the Sith. It doesn’t help that they also have a Jedi with them, which is also uncommon around those parts. Lastly, two soldiers with big guns and a droid who’s programmed to kill doesn’t exactly make them any less subtle.

Lexa stays close to Clarke, and the blonde isn’t sure if it’s because she’s quietly worried, or if she’s just being protective.

Clarke wants to think that Lexa doesn’t want her to die just yet.

Bellamy, on the other hand, walks straight up to the counter and asks for a drink. The bartender, who’s of a species Clarke doesn’t recognise, gives them a warning glare. Clearly they aren’t all that welcome in these parts.

Clarke doesn’t know if it’s the guns, the lightsaber, or Lexa’s icy glare that they found the most intimidating.

“Well, this place isn’t sketchy at all,” Octavia comments lowly, her hand steady against her lightsaber.

Clarke moves towards Bellamy, who’s only just received his drink. “She’s not in here. There’s too many people. You know she doesn’t like to draw attention to herself, she’d be in a much more discreet place than this.”

Bellamy nods. “Just let me have this one drink, okay?”

Clarke sighs. Bellamy works just as hard as she does, if not more. It takes a lot of work to keep her in line, and she’s sure she can give him this, just one time. He was right in saying that they won’t be monitored on this mission; she’s sure taking a few minutes off here and there won’t do them any harm.

“I’m going to wait outside with Lexa and Octavia. We’re drawing unnecessary attention in here.” She tells Bellamy, and he nods before turning back to his drink. He’s probably the only one out of the group who _wouldn’t_ be mugged in there.

Clarke ushers the rest of the group outside, leaving both Nova and Bellamy inside. Lexa lets out a heavy sigh once they exit the building, which causes Clarke to look at her.

Lexa notices her staring almost immediately. “I do not like crowds.”

Clarke nods softly. “Noted.”

“God, these Hutt planets creep me out,” Octavia comments, the three of them moving off to the side so that people can still enter and exit the doorway. “ _Everyone_ looks shady. Even the bartender looked like he wanted to murder us.”

“They do not like anybody who is seen to uphold the law,” Lexa explains without looking at Octavia. “Jedi are peacekeepers; Republic soldiers are seen as police around these parts. As soon as they see lightsabers and big guns, they withdraw immediately. They are always doing something illegal. If a bar like that operated in Coruscant, it would be shut down.”

“Didn’t realise we were travelling with the entirety of the Jedi archives,” Octavia mutters, kicking the dirt under her feet.

Lexa only rolls her eyes and purses her lips, choosing not to say anything more. Clarke figures it’s probably for the best.

Octavia is only silent for a moment, though, before she continues, “And you know what? Nobody asked for the history lesson. Sith should be seen and not heard. Not even seen if I can help it.”

Lexa narrows her eyes. “How exactly did you become a Jedi when you’re so volatile? You lack discipline and tact, just like your brother.”

Clarke swallows quickly. That was definitely the wrong thing for her to say. Octavia is quick to react, almost launching herself at Lexa. This time, Clarke can’t get between them, but luckily, Lexa’s quick enough to pull out one of her swords before Octavia gets any closer. Octavia’s eyes widen just a fraction, but it’s enough for Lexa to loosen her grip on the blade that’s now pressed to the Jedi’s throat.

Even if Octavia could pull her lightsaber out, what would she do? Killing Lexa would result in a mission failure and Octavia isn’t about to let Indra down.

“Are you sure you want to try it…?” Lexa asks quietly, her fingers tapping against the hilt of the vibroblade.

“Lexa, stop.” Clarke’s gaze isn’t nearly as deadly, but it’s enough to make Lexa pause. The Sith lets out a controlled sigh before taking a step back. She slipped her vibroblade back where it belonged, and a wave of relief washes over Clarke.

Octavia scoffs. “Keep your dog on a leash, Griffin.”

“Fuck you, Jedi.” Lexa seethes.

Clarke’s eyebrows unintentionally shoot up at the exchange. She didn’t realise that being a part of this mission would mean being the mediator for the two of them. She thinks Octavia’s going to try something again, but instead, she decides to put her Jedi training to good use.

“I’m gonna go find Bell,” Octavia grumbles, heading back towards the cantina doors.

Lexa sighs again, but it’s a lot less restrained and contains more frustration. “I can not promise that she will still be alive by the end of this.”

“You insulted her brother. Of course she was going to go off at you,” Clarke reasons.

“She’s dangerous. And unstable.”

“And you aren’t? Lexa you literally had your vibroblade–”

Lexa’s head snaps up before Clarke can finish her sentence. “Shh,” she says softly, holding her hand up in front of Clarke.

At first, Clarke thought she was just being rude, but it then occurs to her that Lexa can sense things that she clearly can’t.

“Quick, what’s your pilot friend’s surname?”

“Reyes, why?”

With a swift nod, Lexa straightens her back. “Just follow my lead.” It’s almost perfectly timed, because as soon as Lexa steps forward, three males approach them. A human, a Rodian and a Twi-lek enter Clarke’s line of vision. Lexa adopts a casual demeanor, so Clarke attempts to do the same.

The Twi’lek stops in front of Lexa, the smirk on his face evident. “Well, well, well, we’ve finally found you. We know who you are, Sith. And most of the Hutts on this planet have a nice little price on your head. We’ve come to collect.”

Clearly, Lexa had sensed them coming from around the corner. Maybe they’d been talking about her and Lexa could overhear them. Either way, Clarke’s thankful that she isn’t alone in this situation.

Lexa doesn’t say anything, and doesn’t show any indication that she’s afraid of them. That seems to make the Twi’lek quite unhappy. He growls, taking a step closer to Lexa. “Did you hear me, Sith?” He hisses, reaching down to pull a blaster out of the holster on his hip. He points it directly at Lexa’s face, just like Clarke had done that very first day.

“I heard you just fine,” she replies smoothly.

Lexa knows they won’t shoot her. Everyone wants her alive.

“Then you won’t mind coming with us then, I assume? You know, I expected you to put up more of a fight than this. Quite disappointing.”

Lexa only raises an eyebrow at him. She’s still staring directly down the barrel of the pistol, completely unshaken by the weapon. Clarke wonders if Lexa can teach her how to be that fearless.

The Rodian seems to notice Clarke’s fear, as he takes a step forward himself, his hand reaching for his gun. However, instead of pointing it at Lexa, Clarke finds the pistol pointed directly at herself. She freezes in place, not having taken that into consideration. She had been so focused on Lexa being the target that she’d let her own guard down. _Stupid_.

Lexa’s movements are very quick after that. Having her hands by her side allows her to use her left arm to quickly Force push all three bounty hunters back against the wall behind them, while grabbing her swords with her right hand. By the time the three of them regain their balance, Lexa’s in a fighting stance with both of her blades, using them to protect both herself and Clarke.

Now that she’s technically behind cover, Clarke takes the opportunity to pull out her own rifle, pointing it towards the assailants. A Sith and a trained soldier versus three bounty hunters? Easy.

Clarke’s never used a vibroblade in a battle before, but she knows that the reflective finish on the blade is perfect against blaster fire. They have even been known to hold their own against lightsabers from time to time. Lexa’s probably an expert with them, especially having grown up at the Sith Academy. Even on her own, the three hunters didn’t stand a chance.

Lexa steps closer to the three, and even though their blasters are still pointed at Lexa, all of their hands are shaking. “You give me something, and I will exchange it with your life.” She pauses, but doesn’t wait for a reply. “Raven Reyes. The pilot. Where is she?”

At this point, the bounty hunters are almost cowering. Clearly they’ve never been sent to face a Sith before, but Clarke doesn’t blame them for being terrified. Lexa’s tone is enough to make Clarke shake in her boots.

“How the hell would they know where she is?” Clarke hisses at her. “You don’t even know she’s in this city!”

“If your friend is as promiscuous and prominent as you say she is, then she is bound to be in the capital city, and _they_ are bound to know something.” Lexa murmurs back, keeping her attention on her targets. “Bounty hunters always know more than they let on.”

“Lucky Stars.” It’s the first time that the human of the group speaks. “I–It’s the big cantina in the centre of the square. It’s VIP only, though. You won’t be able to get in without a member’s passcard.”

Lexa narrows her eyes at the hunters. “I think we’ll manage,” she says, directing her eyes down to the weapons in her hands. Clarke knows that she’ll use them if she has to in order to get them inside. “Told you,” Lexa murmurs back to Clarke.

“Figures.” Clarke rolls her eyes, and in her peripheral vision, she can see Bellamy, Octavia and Nova leaving the cantina.

Octavia storms up to the pair. “What the hell is going on? We’re just harassing innocent citizens now?”

“If you call trying to capture us ‘innocent’, then yes.” Lexa murmurs quietly, and Clarke almost smiles at Lexa’s level of wit. This girl certainly has a lot of secrets, and Clarke is interested in finding out all of them.

Bellamy steps forward immediately, ready to protect Clarke when if moment arises, but that moment has already long passed.

“We have taken care of it,” Lexa says, her voice authoritative. “Haven’t we?” She asks, raising her eyebrow at the three bounty hunters.

The three bounty hunters barely even say anything, they just scurry away, presumably to run back to whichever Hutt they’re working for.

“I’m surprised you didn’t kill them,” Clarke blurts out to Lexa.

Lexa shrugs, and the look in her eyes is almost playful. “I don’t want to leave a mess.”

The two of them lock eyes for a moment. The green in Lexa’s is vibrant, and it takes a lot of Clarke’s willpower to focus again. “…We don’t have a lot of time,” she says. “They’re going to report to their boss that we’re here, and then every bounty hunter on the planet will be after us.”

Lexa nods. “Then let’s go.”

“Where to?” Bellamy asks.

“To get your friend Raven.”

\------

“She’s certainly resourceful, I’ll give her that,” Bellamy mutters as they walk towards Lucky Stars. It’s a cantina that Clarke has actually heard of before. There are certain cantinas on certain planets that show up on the HoloNet much more than others. Clarke’s sure that the last time she had heard about it, there was some sort of assassination attempt that had occurred there. Not that she’s surprised, she has a feeling that this is where bounty hunters both live and play.

Lexa chooses to disguise herself as best she can. She disappears into a store for a moment before returning with a black robe with a hood. It looks exactly like the kind of thing a Sith would wear, but at least it hides her face. Nobody will know who she is. If they really are entering a cantina full of bounty hunters, then she’s basically live bait.

“She’s a Sith apprentice, Bellamy. She wouldn’t survive if she wasn’t resourceful,” Clarke replies, and Bellamy only shrugs as they wander across the square towards the huge building that houses the cantina.

As predicted, there are guards at the front doors, and a line halfway down the stairs waiting to get in. Lexa takes the lead at this point, her hood pulled over her head as she leads the group towards the front of the line. Clarke can hear yells of protest behind them, but they need to get in a lot more than they do.

Clarke can hear the man ask for their passcards, but Lexa doesn’t even need to wave her hand in order to use a Force mind trick on him. He lets them in almost immediately, much to the disappointment of everyone who’s waiting in line.

“Wow,” Octavia murmurs. “Even _I’m_ impressed by that.”

Clarke can’t help but laugh as they enter the cantina.

Not wanting a repeat of last time, they all stick together. The cantina is at least three times the size of the previous one, and Clarke can instantly see the appeal. The music is loud and drinks are flowing. It makes her want to let her hair down for a while, but the presence of Lexa keeps her focused on the mission.

Lexa keeps her back straight and her eyes focused, as if she’s completely unfazed by everything going on around them. She turns towards Clarke. “What does your friend look like?”

“Human, dark hair, brown eyes, loud mouth, probably wearing a red jacket. She has a droid, too, but in a place like this, I think she’d keep it on her ship.” Clarke tells Lexa, and the Sith only nods once as they continue their search.

They search for a few minutes, and they approach the bar in the centre of the main room. It’s completely crowded, and everyone’s either yelling or cheering. It’s hard for all of them to stay together, but they all agree to meet out the front of the cantina in thirty minutes if they can’t find anything.

Although, in a place like this, they’re bound to run into trouble.

Fortunately for them, Raven attracts trouble like a magnet.

It doesn’t take too long for them to get a clue to Raven’s whereabouts. Although it’s far too loud in the cantina, she knows that Lexa and Octavia will able to use the Force to pinpoint certain sounds. Luckily for them, the next voice Clarke pays attention to is rather loud and clear.

“Hey, Reyes!” A voice yells, cutting through the sound of the crowd. “Hey, Reyes! I want my fucking money, Reyes!”

“Oh, no,” Clarke murmurs, pushing past Lexa and hurrying towards the source of the noise.

Sure enough, it’s Raven.

She’s sitting at a table amongst a whole bunch of interesting characters, both human and alien alike. They look like they’re playing some sort of game. Gambling, no doubt. Before Clarke can get any closer to the table, the man who’d been yelling for Raven approaches her. Raven stands up on her feet, and that’s when Clarke notices the reflective shine that her left arm is giving off. She narrows her eyes, trying to get a better look at it, but the man obscures her vision.

“You hustled me. _Again_.”

Raven scoffs, rolling her eyes. “It’s not hustling if you fall for it _a second time_ , asshole.” She says, pushing past the man and heading towards the bar.

He doesn’t seem to like that very much. He grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her back to face him. He reaches for something at his waist, pulling a small knife upwards and holding it to Raven’s throat. “Give me the fucking money you owe me. Now.”

Bellamy makes a move to step past Clarke, but Clarke holds out her arm to stop him. “Stop. She can take care of herself.”

Raven looks entirely unamused by the whole situation. That is, until the knife is pulled out. After that, she’s _laughing_. “Oh, honey, that is _not_ a knife.” She takes the opportunity to lift her leg, kicking the man in the shins. He falls to his knees, and Raven proceeds to hit him over the back of the head, with what Clarke can now see to be a robotic arm. The shock of seeing the arm almost causes Clarke to miss the man collapsing face first onto the floor.

Raven only rolls her eyes. “Pathetic.” She picks up the knife off the floor, which is admittedly very small. Half the cantina’s eyes are on her as she moves over towards the bar. She stabs the knife into the counter top, giving the bartender a pointed look. “Drinks? Please?” She asks, giving an award-winning smile that Clarke both knows and loves.

Clarke’s slightly in awe, but she lets her feet carry her over to the bar where Raven’s waiting. Raven spots the movement in the corner of her eye before Clarke reaches her. A grin quickly forms on the pilot’s face before she jumps off her chair and into Clarke’s arms. Clarke laughs, holding on to her friend for dear life, lifting her off the ground slightly.

“What the hell are you doing here, Griffin?” Raven asks happily, giving the blonde’s shoulders a tight squeeze before pulling back to look at her. “Damn, you’re looking good, Clarke. I mean it.”

Clarke’s smile is bright as she holds on tightly to Raven’s arms. “You do, too, Raven. It’s been–”

“What the hell happened to your arm?!” Bellamy asks, finally pushing through the crowd to face Raven.

“Bellamy!” Clarke hisses, elbowing her friend in the stomach.

“Bellamy Blake?” Raven asks, her eyes instantly lighting up in a way Clarke hasn’t seen in a long time. “Come here, you asshole.” She stands up on her toes to wrap her arms around Bellamy’s shoulders. Bellamy reciprocates with fervor, holding her as tightly as he had Octavia when they reunited. Once they pull away from each other, Raven fidgets with the robotic arm self-consciously, although nothing replaces the bright smile on her face. “As for my arm, that’s a story for another time. What are you guys doing here?”

“We actually need your help,” Clarke responds. “We need passage to Coruscant. Undetected, no questions asked by anyone.”

“Damn, Griffin, what kind of trouble are you in now?” Raven asks, looking between both Clarke and Bellamy before spotting something over Clarke’s shoulder. “Who are they?”

Clarke looks over her shoulder to find Octavia and Lexa standing there. Lexa looks impatient, and Octavia looks mildly uncomfortable.

“That’s, uh… that’s my sister.” Bellamy explains, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

Clarke’s about to comment on the blush on Bellamy’s cheeks, but Raven beats her to it. “ _That’s_ the sister? Well, damn, Blake. She’s a hot one.”

Clarke snorts, and she can barely hear the ‘shut the hell up’ mumble out of Bellamy’s mouth.

“And who’s the angry-looking one?”

“That’s Lexa. She’s… she’s our mission. We need to get her to Coruscant. But it’s sensitive. We need someone we can trust.”

Raven nods. “You know I’m your girl,” she says. “When do we leave?”

“Right now would be best,” Bellamy answers as he looks around. All eyes seem to be on their conversation. Any one of these people could have overheard them say Lexa’s name. There could be a whole army of bounty hunters waiting for them outside the door already.

Raven seems to notice his restlessness. “Okay, I’ll take you back to my ship.” She looks around for a moment. “I think I’ve cleaned most of these suckers out by now anyway.”

Clarke rolls her eyes playfully. “You’re going to get yourself killed one day.”

Raven’s bright smile is almost blinding. “Of course I will. That’s the Raven Reyes way. Where’s the fun in playing it safe?”

Clarke doesn’t think ‘fun’ is the right way to describe it, but she knows now she can now relate to Raven on the level of recklessness she has achieved. This mission is going to be well and truly messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is Raven! I was going to add more into the chapter but I was anxious to finish this one, so there'll be more Raven interaction in the next one.
> 
> The capital of Ylesia is actually called Peace City. Irony, irony, irony.


	5. Five

The trip back to the hangar bay where Raven’s ship resides is quiet.

Raven’s the only one making an effort to talk. She insists on catching up with both Clarke and Bellamy as much as she can, but Clarke’s too busy keeping her eyes peeled for anyone else who might be after them. She knows they’re a lot safer with Lexa and Octavia by their side, but she can’t be too careful. They’re all on this mission together, and she would hate to lose any of them just because they let their guard down.

Clarke tries her best to keep up with the conversation, but she knows that even Raven can tell she’s holding back on the enthusiasm. She’s just too worried, she can’t help it.

“You okay, Clarke?” Raven murmurs, sidling up next to her friend and lowering her voice.

“I guess so,” Clarke says with a sigh. Raven purses her lips, but doesn’t question it as the group follows Raven through the hangar bay doors.

Clarke knows that Raven’s just trying to be cheerful, but she’s sure that her good spirits will vanish rather quickly in this particular group. Tensions are already running high, and it seems that nothing can be peaceful for more than five minutes.

“Well, shit,” Bellamy murmurs as they approach Raven’s ship. Clarke has to agree with his sentiment, it’s a lot larger than she thought it would be. She’s never seen anything like it.

“That’s a Republic freighter. How the hell did you get your hands on one of those?” Clarke asks, turning towards Raven. Raven’s practically a scoundrel, and she certainly doesn’t work for the Republic. There’s no way she could legally obtain a ship like that.

The mischievous glint in Raven’s eyes only makes Clarke want to know more. “It’s an older model, but I gave it my own upgrades. But yeah, they used these babies in the Republic Navy way back when.”

“This must’ve cost a fortune,” Bellamy says, his eyes filled with awe as he looks at the ship.

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m a great gambler then, isn’t it?” Raven asks, shooting a quick wink in Bellamy’s direction. “Come on. We won’t get to Coruscant if we’re just standing around here, will we?” She takes the lead and heads up the ship’s ramp.

As soon as they make it through the doors and to the top of the ramp, Bellamy’s still looking at the spacecraft with admiration. “This thing has multiple levels?!”

“Yep,” Raven answers smugly, clearly very proud of the reactions she’s getting. “Bunks are up, engine room is down. Everything else can be found here on the main level. I’d give you the grand tour, but trust me, you won’t get lost,” she chuckles with a quick roll of her eyes. She waves her arm around — the robotic one — as she speaks, and Clarke can’t help but stare. Raven continues to walk forward into the main section of the ship, where a holocommunication terminal sits in the middle. “Also, this _thing_ has a name. Welcome to the Vulture.”

Clarke raises an eyebrow. “Why the Vulture?”

Raven smirks. “Because I like birds.”

The joke is not lost on Clarke.

“Also, don’t touch the engine. Zee will get mad at you. He likes to zap people when he gets feisty. It’s probably best to not go in the engine room at all, actually.”

Octavia narrows her eyes. “…Who exactly is Zee?”

“My astromech droid. He’s a z-unit. Stands for zero gravity. You’ll see why.” Raven explains, wandering over to the holocommunicator and tapping a few buttons to make it operational.

“Z-units aren’t a real type of droid,” Bellamy says matter-of-factly.

“Once you invent something, I think you’re able to call it whatever you want,” Raven replies, raising an eyebrow at him.

Bellamy looks even more impressed than he did before. Clarke knows he couldn’t be any more whipped if he tried. She’s never seen him like this with anyone else before. Clarke thinks they’re more than good for each other.

“You pilot this thing all by yourself?” Octavia asks incredulously as she looks around. She’s taking cautious steps, like she isn’t sure whether she wants to be there or not.

Raven’s face darkens, her cheery mood completely vanishing. “Yeah. I do now.”

Clarke whips her head around, staring at Raven. “Why? What happened to Finn?” Finn is certainly one of the things Clarke had been looking forward to most.

Raven’s jaw locks and Clarke feels her heart sink. Very, very slowly. The ship’s cabin is silent for a long moment before Raven replies, “I’m sorry, Clarke.”

Clarke suddenly feels faint. She uses her hand to steady herself on the nearest object. She lowers herself into the seat beside her, not trusting her own legs to be able to stand up on their own. “What happened…? _When_ did it happen? Why didn’t you ever tell me?!”

“It’s been a few months,” Raven explains with a shrug. She doesn’t look Clarke in the eyes. “We were paid a ton of credits to deliver some Jedi to a planet where a war was going on. A high-profile strike team. They were supposed to turn the whole battle around. We were ambushed as soon as we landed.” She swallows heavily. “He was killed in the crossfire. I didn’t tell you because you were on active duty on Voss… and I didn’t want to distract you.”

“And you didn’t think I’d figure it out when I came back to the ship and saw he wasn’t there?!” Clarke asks with clear exasperation. Everything hit her so hard and fast that she doesn’t even know what emotions she’s feeling. Finn had been Raven’s co-pilot and best friend. Raven introduced the two of them back when Clarke was training on Corellia. Clarke and Finn had a very flirtatious relationship, but they had always danced around any true feelings they may have had for each other. Raven and Finn were constantly leaving the planet on jobs, and Clarke was training to become a soldier. At the time, it just wasn’t meant to be, but Clarke had always hoped that one day, if she came back to Corellia, she would see him again.

“I’m sorry,” Raven apologises again, clearly becoming emotional. “It’s the _fucking_ Jedi, Clarke, if they hadn’t asked us to—”

“ _Hey_ ,” Octavia starts, taking a step towards Raven. “Watch your mouth.”

Raven’s lower lip wobbles, and Clarke knows that isn’t a good sign. When Raven’s completely fuelled by emotion, sometimes it got ugly. “This is none of your damn business. The Jedi are the reason Finn is dead, and if I knew that someone like _you_ was going to be with Clarke and Bellamy, then I would’ve been a lot less friendly.”

“I don’t think you could _get_ any less friendly, you bit—”

Octavia is unable to finish her sentence as a very loud smack reverberates around the room. Octavia stumbles backwards as Raven’s hand collides with the side of her face. Everyone else in the room is frozen in place, and Clarke’s just thankful that Raven had used her real hand and not her robotic one. Clarke expects Octavia to retaliate in an instant, but Octavia just stands there, her eyes almost defeated as she looks at Raven.

It’s silent for a painful amount of time until Octavia murmurs, “I think I’m just gonna go lie down.”

“O…” Bellamy starts, stepping towards her, but Octavia just pushes past him and walks towards the ramp. He frowns as he turns back towards Raven. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Don’t talk to me, Bellamy.” Raven rolls her eyes, once again locking away all her emotion. “I’ll be in the cockpit if you need me. Gotta… get this thing going. Or whatever.” Raven doesn’t look at anyone as she exits the room.

Everyone in the room is still stunned, but Clarke is the next one to get up and leave. “I think I just… need to be by myself for a little while.” She’s quiet, and she also doesn’t look at anyone as she leaves the room. She hopes that nobody will come looking for her for at least a couple of hours. She really can’t deal with talking to anyone, especially about Finn. It seems like everyone just needs some time to cool off.

This leaves Lexa and Bellamy alone in the main room together, and there isn’t a pairing that could be more awkward. Bellamy excuses himself after only a minute or so, saying he’s going to go check on Octavia. Lexa sits down in the seat Clarke had been occupying, glad to not be the centre of all the drama for once.

\------

Clarke doesn’t want to punish Raven, but there’s something oddly satisfying about being in the engine room when Raven didn’t want her to be there. Clarke knows that Finn’s death isn’t Raven’s fault, and she would never blame it on her. And although Raven had the choice of telling Clarke, she knows her friend was only trying to protect her by withholding the truth. Clarke doesn’t like being coddled, but she loves Raven. Clarke can’t stay mad at her when she’s just lost her best friend.

It just _hurt_. Far too much.

She’s experienced loss before, so the news did hit her hard. Sure, she’s incredibly privileged — more than people know — before she became a soldier, and sometimes she forgets how lucky she is. She also didn’t grow up moving from warzone to warzone like Lexa, or on a Hutt planet like Raven where she had to steal and scavenge in order to survive. She was incredibly lucky, but that didn’t prepare her for the life she was currently living. Her father died just after Octavia left to become a Jedi, and she just didn’t know how to handle it. He’d been sick for a long time, but Clarke always held on to the naïve hope that he would one day get better. She didn’t even know Finn that well, but he’d been charming and she could see a future with him, if they’d ever gotten their act together. She didn’t have any control over her father’s death, but she _did_ have control over her relationship with Finn. It tears her up knowing that she never did anything about it.

Raven telling her so suddenly and so offhandedly was like a punch in the gut. Raven never let any conversation get too deep, because she hates to delve into her emotions, but having it put so bluntly was too much for Clarke.

After all this time, Clarke still doesn’t know how to deal with loss, so she just lets it burn a hole through her chest.

The engine room isn’t quiet, but the engine itself provides a soothing hum that could easily numb her brain for a little while. A part of her wants to call her mother, but if anybody walked in on a conversation between her and Clarke, there would be many questions she’d have to answer. Right now, she doesn’t have the answers that anyone’s looking for.

It doesn’t take Clarke long to realise that she isn’t alone in the room. Zee is there, as Raven had said he would be.

Zee lets out a string of excited beeps when he spots Clarke. Clearly the droid remembers her from months ago on Corellia. Clarke’s sure that Raven had never actually given Zee a memory wipe, even though it’s standard for astromech droids to get them every few years or so.

Zee is smaller and lighter than most astromech droids, and Raven had designed him to use thrusters to be able to move around by flying. From what Clarke knew, Raven had built the droid from nothing but spare parts. Zee is one-of-a-kind, and Raven is very protective.

Zee continues to beep, his head spinning wildly — another fun perk, courtesy of Raven — as he flies in circles around Clarke.

Clarke chuckles at the droid, giving him a brief smile. “Yeah, I missed you too, Zee. Hope you’ve been looking after Raven.”

Zee lets out a low whistle, indicating that he’s sad.

“I know. Finn really liked you.”

Obviously, she can’t understand what the droid’s saying, but she has been working with Nova for years now, and she knows all about programmed emotions. Maybe Nova would be able to translate things that Zee said about Finn. Clarke likes that idea.

“I hope you don’t mind, I just thought I’d sit in here for a while. I promise I won’t disturb your work.” Clarke raises her eyebrow. The droid’s head spins excitedly again, and Clarke laughs. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

She doesn’t want to touch any of the equipment and accidentally break anything before they even take off, so she opts to sit on the floor, her back leaning up against the cool metal of the wall behind her. She leans her head back against the hard surface and closes her eyes, hoping that nobody else is currently feeling as miserable as she is.

\------

It’s hours before there’s any movement in the ship again.

Raven had taken off with relative ease and they had just made the jump to hyperspace. Having been on the edges of Hutt space, Raven knows that it’s going to be many hours before they reach the Core Worlds. Raven just hopes that no one on board rips anyone else apart so they can all survive for that long.

Being stuck in the middle of hyperspace travel with nowhere to escape isn’t exactly appealing. The ship _is_ supposed to be Raven’s escape, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the new arrivals on board. She doesn’t really care where they all are as long as they aren’t disturbing her or messing with her ship.

To Raven, there’s something comforting about the smoothness of hyperspace. Watching the Vulture shoot through a tunnel made of stars always manages to calm her down. The predetermined and precisely calculated routes make it easy to get from planet to planet, especially in the Core Worlds. It’s a good thing Raven is absurdly good at calculations, because the slightest mistake and they could crash into any obstacle.

Finn had always been terrible with calculations. He was a great flyer, but he made sure Raven was in charge of the navigating.

Raven clenches her jaw. She tries not to think about Finn. Whenever she thinks of him, she always finds a way to shut it down. But not this time. Seeing the look on Clarke’s face brought back all the horrible memories she’s been trying to suppress for months. Seeing Finn get shot, seeing the light drain from his eyes, ending up alone with his body as the Jedi left to follow their orders.

Raven held a small memorial service, with only herself and Zee in attendance. Once they cremated him, Raven jumped to hyperspace in the Vulture and used Zee to eject most of his ashes into space. That’s where he had always been his most comfortable. Wild adventurer Finn.

Raven keeps a small portion of his ashes in a vial that Zee holds on to. Like Raven, Finn had no family left. They’d always been each other’s family, and now Raven was alone.

She lets out an irritated sigh, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. Maybe if she closes her eyes for long enough, all of her problems will disappear.

“That bad, huh?”

Raven opens her eyes instantly, feeling irritated as she turns her chair around to face the person who had entered the cockpit. It’s Octavia. Raven doesn’t answer.

“Am I allowed to come up there?”

Raven shrugs. “Whatever.” The co-pilot seat is far enough away from hers so that she won’t be able to reach over and strangle Octavia for any reason. If things get bad, she can always pull out her pistol. She isn’t sure how much good that would do against a Jedi though.

Octavia doesn’t wait for any more confirmation before strolling up to the co-pilot seat and slumping down in it. Her robes conceal her lightsaber, but knowing it’s there makes Raven nervous. Not a lot of things make Raven nervous.

Raven looks over at Octavia tentatively, and it’s then she notices the bruise that has begun to form on the girl’s face. “Damn, Blake, I got you good.”

Octavia snorts before rolling her eyes. “No kidding.”

“You know… I don’t normally hit people,” Raven says, and she really tries to make it sound convincing, but she knows it sounds like bullshit.

Octavia laughs bitterly. “I don’t believe that for a second. We all saw your little display in the cantina. You knocked a guy out with your _robotic arm_.”

Raven shrugs again. She’s uncomfortable with the kind of interaction that Octavia’s attempting to have with her. She doesn’t like being attacked or cornered, and yes, it usually does end in violence on her end. She isn’t able to control her emotions as well as someone like Clarke.

When Raven doesn’t reply right away, Octavia lets out a defeated sigh. “Look, I didn’t mean to call you a bitch. You have your reasons for thinking the way you do. I shouldn’t jump down your throat just because you have opinions.”

Raven raises an eyebrow at Octavia. She thinks it’s very big of Octavia to apologise when she was the one who had gotten smacked in the face. From what Bellamy had told her of his sister, she was feisty, so Raven had honestly been expecting a round two when Octavia showed up in the cockpit. She guesses it’s a Jedi thing that’s making her be so cordial.

“Do you really hate the Jedi?”

Raven shrugs. She knows she just wants somebody to blame, and she knows that not _all_ the Jedi are responsible for Finn’s death. “I’m not a huge fan of them, and I don’t trust them. But _hate_? I guess not,” she mutters, picking at her arm. “Anyway, I’m sorry for hitting you. It wasn’t right. Plus you freaked out a little there, so I felt bad.”

Octavia lets out a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t _you_ that caused me to ‘freak out’. The hit just… it reminded me of something, that’s all.”

Raven turns to her with a curious look. “What kind of something?”

At first, Octavia seems reluctant to answer, but then everything spills out all at once. “Back when I was in the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4… well, I wasn’t picked up as early as the other kids. Most Force sensitive children are found when they’re very young, and they’re trained from early childhood. I wasn’t so lucky. So when I first arrived at the Academy, I was weaker than everyone else, even though we were all the same age. I always tried to keep up with them but I never could. I used to fight scrappily, always letting my guard down and making myself vulnerable. I wanted to prove myself.” Octavia pauses for a moment. “The other kids just liked to exploit my weaknesses, that’s all.”

“So they _hit_ you?” Raven asks incredulously.

“I spent half of my first year with more bruises and scars than actual skin. My instructors always tried to reprimand who was responsible, but that didn’t seem to stop them.” Octavia rolls her eyes. “Anyway, once Indra became my Master, everything changed. She’s a member of the Jedi Council, probably the toughest fighter on there, and she taught me everything I know.”

“Hm,” is all Raven’s response is at first. “So weakling Blake became badass Blake.”

Octavia chuckles. “Essentially, yeah.”

“Hm,” Raven says again, looking out the front window of the spacecraft. She watches the stars fly by them at lightspeed, wondering how many star systems they’re just passing through. Star systems that she would now probably never visit. Finn had wanted to visit as many as he possibly could, and he made Raven excited about it too. “Y’know, the day I lost Finn was the day I lost my arm. Funny how you can have it all one day, and the next it’s all gone.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven can see Octavia looking at her, but she continues staring straight ahead.

“My arm was crushed. The bones in my forearm were completely shattered. They took me to a doctor back on Corellia, and the next time I woke up, I had this thing,” she says, lifting the pale gold-coloured metal. It’s heavy, but she’s gotten used to the weight by now.

“So you just… passed out with a real arm and woke up with a fake one?” Octavia asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Raven shrugs. “There was nothing they could do, and I need two hands to do my job.” She’s silent for a moment. “I just wished I wasn’t dealing with losing Finn at the same time. Coping without him was really hard.”

“Were you and Finn…? I mean, was he your boyfriend?” Octavia asks cautiously.

Raven shakes her head. “No. We were just friends. Idiot was in love with Clarke though. Oh, _man_ , was he in love with Clarke,” she murmurs. Sometimes she felt a twinge of envy whenever she saw Clarke and Finn together. Finn had never seen her in that way, and it always made Raven wonder what was wrong with her. It was just so _easy_ for Finn to fall for Clarke. As time passed though, she realised that some things just weren’t meant to be.

Octavia sighs heavily. “Does Clarke know that he loved her?”

“I don’t know,” Raven answers truthfully. “I think that would just hurt her even more right now. They never got the chance to even start a proper relationship. They barely knew each other. But Finn was just… when he knew something, he just knew. There was no changing his mind about anything.” She sighs. “Stubborn fuck.”

Octavia is quiet for a moment before she responds, “I’m sorry you had to lose him.”

Raven shrugs yet again. It’s the easiest response she can give without showing any emotion. “I was actually doing okay until Clarke brought him up. When I first saw her, it didn’t register that I’d have to tell her about him.” She finally looks over at Octavia. “I noticed there was some tension already between all of you guys. I guess this Finn stuff just made it all worse.”

“I’ve known Clarke my whole life and she’s the toughest person I’ve ever met,” Octavia assures Raven confidently. “Whatever you throw at her, she’ll be fine. She just needs time to process the loss. She won’t let it interfere with this.”

“Yeah, what is ‘this’ exactly anyway? You’re seriously travelling with a _Sith_? Aren’t you scared you scared she’s gonna, like, slit your throat as soon as you let your guard down?”

“We have to deliver her to the Jedi,” Octavia explains. “She has a connection to the Queen, and my Master has struck up some sort of deal with her. Nobody actually knows what that deal is though.” She pauses, furrowing her eyebrows. “And anyway, it’s a good thing Jedi never let their guard down.”

“I still don’t know how you can trust her.” Trusting _anyone_ is a foreign concept to Raven, but trusting a Sith is a new level of crazy that even she hadn’t reached yet.

“Well, Clarke had a gun pointed at her head and we’re all still alive, so I think we’re safe. For now. Actually, I think she trusts Clarke the most,” Octavia muses.

Raven seems unconvinced. “Yeah, but does Clarke trust _her_? I’d keep my guard up if I were you. She could double-cross you at any moment. If I don’t trust any Jedi, then I _definitely_ don’t trust any Sith.”

“Well, now you’re just making me feel uneasy,” Octavia says with a nervous laugh. “Maybe I should go check on them. See if they haven’t all killed each other yet.”

“You’ll come to find that I am usually the bearer of bad news.” Raven tells her, giving her a cheeky half-smile.

“Jedi aren’t allowed to be realists.”

Raven snorts. “I guess not. Maybe you should go check on them. I’d like to have my ship be in one piece when we land. It’s pretty quiet back there and it’s making me suspicious.” She can see Octavia hesitating. “I’ll be fine up here. Go on.”

“Are we okay though? I don’t want you pointing a blaster at my head in my sleep.”

Raven chuckles. Even if she did point a blaster at Octavia’s head in her sleep, she’s sure that Octavia has the reflexes to be able to stop her. “ _I’m_ the one who hit _you_. Trust me, we’re fine.”

“Okay,” Octavia sighs, lifting herself up out of the seat. “Good, ‘cause I wouldn’t wanna have to use my lightsaber on you.”

\------

Clarke hopes that she doesn’t run into anybody on her way back to the main room of the ship. She also hopes that nobody is _in_ the main room of the ship. But it isn’t an Imperial starship, there aren’t plenty of places for her to hide. After spending some time in the engine room with Zee, she grows tired of the hum that had, at first, made her feel so calm. Once she makes her way up the ramp, she’s relieved to see that nobody else is in sight. All she has to do is walk down the hallway and enter the main room.

Unfortunately, it isn’t _that_ simple.

Octavia happens to be walking down the hallway in the opposite direction, towards the ramp. She stops when she sees Clarke, but Clarke’s sure her face shows that she isn’t open for a conversation.

It’s too bad that Octavia never listens to her.

“Don’t worry, Raven and I won’t be beating each other up any time soon.”

Clarke raises an eyebrow. “You went and talked to Raven? That was… big of you.”

Octavia shrugs. “What can I say? Becoming a Jedi changed me.” A hint of a smirk appears on her face.

“Well, I hope so, because between you and Lexa and Raven going at each other, there won’t be anybody left to face the Jedi Council at the end of this mission.”

“I can’t make any promises about Lexa. You’ve got your work cut out for you with that one.”

“You weren’t _exactly_ welcoming,” Clarke reasons.

“And you expected me to be? She’s a _Sith_. She’s killed thousands of innocent people.” Octavia frowns at Clarke.

Octavia makes quite the argument, and Clarke’s starting to wonder if there’s something wrong with her, since she doesn’t completely agree with Octavia’s lashing out at Lexa. She sighs heavily. “Just try not to kill each other before we get to Coruscant, okay? Stay in separate rooms if that’s what it takes.”

“Gladly,” Octavia grumbles.

Clarke sighs, making a move to step past Octavia, but the younger brunette places her hand out to stop her.

“There is something I did want to say to you though. Before we continue with the mission, I mean.”

“Okay…” Clarke says slowly, unsure of what Octavia is getting at.

“I just want you to know that Bell and I aren’t going to spill your secret to everyone. Bellamy told me that Raven doesn’t know about you, but I didn’t tell her. And I won’t.”

Clarke nods slowly. Amidst all the heartache and drama, sometimes she forgets who she really is. Miller really should’ve chosen a _real_ soldier to go on this mission, but she has Bellamy, and now Octavia, so she knows she’s relatively safe. Her mother would certainly never approve of the job she’s been given, but it’s far too late now. Miller would never tell her mother what she’s up to — that’s her own choice. He’s only supposed to report to her on the critical things.

Clarke refuses to rate this as ‘critical’.

Her mother doesn’t need to know everything.

“Let’s just hope that once we drop Lexa off at the Jedi, that’ll be the end of it.” Clarke’s so used to lying about her status that she no longer feels guilty about it anymore. She just hopes that the whole mess will be over and done with before it escalates any further.

\------

Once Clarke frees herself from Octavia, she can’t help but groan loudly when she enters the main room and sees that Lexa is sitting there, as if she’d been waiting for her to return the entire time. The ship is suddenly a lot smaller now that they’ve taken off and are stuck in the middle of hyperspace travel.

Lexa’s sitting in the chair Clarke had been in earlier. Her two vibroblades are sitting on the table in front of her, and she’s wiping them down with a cloth.

“Glad to see you too,” Lexa says quietly. A hint of amusement coats her tone as she continues looking at the blades in front of her.

“You know, those blades are brand new and they’re as shiny as they’re going to get.” Clarke tells her, feeling slightly irritated as she watches Lexa behave so peacefully.

“Tending to my weapons calm my mind,” Lexa says, not lifting her eyes off the blades.

“That had to be the most ‘Sith’ thing you’ve ever said.”

Lexa smiles, finally turning her attention to Clarke. “Good. I was afraid I was getting soft.”

Clarke rolls her eyes. Lexa jokes with her plenty, but it isn’t enough to make her trust the Sith. She still has no idea what her true intentions are or what the deal between her and Indra means. Missing those crucial pieces of the puzzle means that Clarke will have to keep her distance, and that everyone else should too.

“Did you love him?” Lexa asks suddenly, her voice cutting through the silence.

Clarke turns back towards her. “What?”

“The boy. Finn, was it?” Lexa asks, testing his name on her tongue. “Did you love him?”

Clarke crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“I’m sorry.” Lexa’s apology is genuine. “I just… I don’t understand those feelings.”

Clarke narrows her eyes, taking a couple of steps closer to her. “Love? You don’t understand love?”

Lexa lifts her eyes off her blades once more to meet Clarke’s. Her eyes are as innocent as Clarke has ever seen them. “No, I do not.”

Clarke’s look is incredulous. “You’ve never loved anyone? Not romantically? What about family?”

Lexa chuckles darkly. “Sith don’t have families. The Queen and the Academy makes sure of that.”

“You’ve never loved anyone?” Clarke repeats, unsure if she’s able to believe what Lexa’s telling her. Having no family sounds legitimate, especially since she’s spent most of her life at the Sith Academy. But she never fell for anybody while she was there? She never met somebody that she wanted to protect with her life? Clarke doesn’t buy that.

“No.”

Clarke stops in her tracks for a moment. A part of it makes sense. Lexa is incredibly closed off, and it’s probably from a combination of simultaneously being the Queen’s punching bag and never having anyone to rely on. Clarke frowns, moving over to the other end of the seat and sitting down on it.

“I do not need your pity, Clarke.” Lexa shakes her head quickly. “I merely asked a question. You don’t have to answer it.”

“No,” Clarke murmurs. “I didn’t love him. But I could’ve, I think. If I had known him more, spent more time with him.”

Lexa nods, staying silent for a moment before replying, “I’m sorry you lost him.”

Clarke tries to give her a small smile — to let Lexa know that she is okay — but she isn’t, and it falls as quickly as it appears. “You’ve really never loved anyone?”

The smile on Lexa’s face is one of amusement. “You’ve asked me three times.”

“Right.” Clarke replies, her eyebrows furrowing again in confusion. It just doesn’t make any sense to her. “I just… I guess I don’t understand it, that’s all.”

“Such things are forbidden for people like me. Those with special Force abilities. The Queen wants to keep us focused, so that we’re only serving _her_. She doesn’t want us to fight and die for anyone else but her. Of course, the rule was broken many times, and the Queen couldn’t do anything about it. She needs her army of specialised Sith to do her dirty work for her, she can’t afford to kill the special ones.”

Clarke watches her facial expressions change as she speaks. Lexa doesn’t think very highly of her Queen at all, and it makes Clarke wonder just how many people hate being under her rule. If the Queen was gone, then all the suffering would end. “You know, you still haven’t shown me your power.”

“Using it whilst on a starship is dangerous.” Lexa explains. “I probably won’t be able to get us back here.”

“Get us back…?” Clarke asks in confusion, her curiosity on the subject only growing. “…You can teleport.” She deadpans.

Lexa’s eyebrows shoot up slightly in surprise, but a small smile remains on her face. “Well, you’re smarter than I gave you credit for, Sergeant.”

Clarke turns her body towards Lexa. She’s suddenly a lot more interested in talking about it. “So it’s true?”

“Not _exactly_ teleporting. I can open gateways to other places. It requires a huge amount of my Force power, and usually takes me a long time to recharge.”

“That’s incredible,” Clarke breathes. “No wonder the Queen wants you on her side so badly.”

“The thing is, I can only open portals to places I’ve already been before. That’s why the Queen has put me on so many missions on planets all across the galaxy. She wants me to visit them so that she can send her armies there whenever she wants.”

Clarke looks at her. “You can really transport entire armies?”

“No,” Lexa shakes her head. “But that’s what the Queen was aiming for before I… escaped.” She pauses for a moment, before letting out a humourless laugh. “I just gave away my secret weapon to the enemy.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Clarke says quietly, holding Lexa’s gaze. “Not a soul. I promise.”

Lexa stares at her for a long moment before answering. “Okay.”

“Did you, um…” Clarke scrunches up her nose, almost cringing at the question she’s about to ask. “Did you have to use your power a lot? When you were on your missions for the Queen?”

Lexa’s lip twitches downwards, showing her immediate discomfort with the question. “Unfortunately. At the Academy, we’re pre-programmed to think and act a certain way. Killing is in our nature. It’s what we do in order to please the Queen.”

Clarke feels her heart drop. She can see that as soon as Lexa is away from the Queen’s influence, everything that the Queen had built her up to be just falls away. “How many people have you killed…?” She asks quietly.

“I’ve lost count,” Lexa murmurs so quietly that it’s almost unintelligible. She turns her attention back to the vibroblades in front of her.

Although Clarke had never seen Lexa at the Academy or around the Queen, she knows that Lexa is a different person away from it all. Sith re ruthless, and she’s sure Lexa is no exception. However, now that she’s away from the Queen, she hasn’t once tried to harm them. Lexa had even _protected_ Clarke from the bounty hunters who were after them on Ylesia. Clarke doesn’t quite understand it, or even believe it. Clarke thinks that maybe it has something to do with the deal Lexa made with Indra.

All she knows is that she shouldn’t be having conflicting feelings over a _Sith_.

“I should let you get back to it,” Clarke says softly, knowing that she’s already overstepped the boundary by asking questions. Lexa doesn’t know her, she certainly doesn’t owe her any explanations, no matter what side of the battlefield she’s on. She stands up from the seat, straightens out her clothes and moves back towards the ramp. She thinks that maybe if she lies down for a while, they’ll be at Coruscant by the time she wakes up.

Clarke’s halfway out the door when Lexa speaks again.

“I know what you are, Clarke,” Lexa says suddenly, and Clarke freezes.

Clarke immediately feels panicked. There’s absolutely no way Lexa knows anything about who or what she is. Absolutely no way. It can’t be what she thinks it is. Clarke turns back around to face Lexa, her eyes involuntarily wide. She already looks guilty. If she’s found out, their whole mission could be put in jeopardy. They’d end up in even more danger than they already are. There’s just no way.

When Clarke doesn’t reply, Lexa raises an eyebrow. “You do know you’re Force sensitive, right…?”

Clarke’s immediate reaction is her heart dropping in relief. It isn’t at all what she thought it would be. At the same time, though, she’s incredibly confused. “What do you mean?”

“It was the first thing I noticed about you on Voss,” Lexa explains. “That’s why I kept looking at you. At first, I thought you were a Jedi in disguise as a soldier, I thought it was all some sort of set-up. But then you lost it and pointed the gun at me, and I realised that you were just a soldier after all.”

“I…” Clarke furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “I never…”

“Your parents aren’t Jedi?” Lexa asks curiously, her eyebrows creasing.

“No,” she murmurs. Her father’s gone and her mother is… well, she’s everything _but_ a Jedi. “My dad… well, he’s dead. So, I mean, _he_ could’ve been Force sensitive, but he definitely wasn’t a Jedi.”

Clarke notices Lexa’s jaw lock. “I’m sorry.”

Clarke shrugs. She doesn’t want to talk about her father.

“I just thought you should know,” Lexa tells her, her voice remaining level. “The Force tends to draw me towards things.”

“And you were drawn to me?”

“Essentially,” Lexa replies. “Force sensitive people are like magnets. If you have a strong connection with the Force you could find a Force sensitive person who was on the other side of a city. All you have to do is stop and listen to what the Force is trying to tell you.”

Clarke watches her, but doesn’t reply. A large part of her thinks that Lexa is just messing with her.

“That’s one of the reasons why I didn’t try to escape when you and Bellamy captured me. I thought you were a Jedi, and I thought that maybe you would treat me fairly.” Lexa shrugs again. “Being with the Jedi was a safer bet than being with the Queen. Regardless, you don’t need to act on your Force sensitivity. Being Octavia’s brother, Bellamy would have it too, and clearly he has chosen not to do anything about it.”

Clarke nods. She feels slightly numb at the news. Obviously, she’s still the same person she had been for all these years, but it feels like everything inside her head has changed. It makes her wonder if she could’ve gone to Yavin 4 with Octavia and become a Jedi like her. Her life would be vastly different, and she would be commanding warzones instead of being the grunt doing this mission. She’d be a brilliant fighter like Octavia, instead of feeling so weak all the time.

“Clarke?” Lexa asks cautiously when the blonde doesn’t reply.

“We can’t talk about this. It’s too… it’s overwhelming, okay?” Clarke asks, and the words come out harsher than she intended. “I’ve just… too much has happened today. The past week. It’s too much.”

Lexa almost looks like a wounded puppy, but she quickly rectifies that and becomes impassive once more. “Okay.”

\------

Some hours later, the entire group (minus Raven, who is still in the cockpit) find themselves sitting in the main room of the ship once again. They’re sitting in silence for the most part, but at least they’re now able to all sit in the same room like civil human beings. Zee twirls around the group occasionally, making his usual beeping sounds, but that’s the only movement in the room.

That is, until a loud stomping sound catches all of their attention.

Raven comes thundering down the ramp in her large, black boots. She pauses at the bottom, looking around at the deathly silent occupants in the cabin.

“Uh… is anyone still alive down here? We’re almost at Coruscant.” Raven says slowly, looking around the room.

She doesn’t give anyone a chance to reply.

“You know, I didn’t sign up for this. This is the sorriest bunch I’ve ever seen.” Raven scoffs, her eyes scanning the group in front of her. “A baby Jedi who has clearly never left the nest, a combat medic who thinks she runs the entire galaxy, the medic’s doting puppy who has literally zero purpose here, two droids who are in desperate need of a memory wipe, and a crazy Sith who’s probably going to kill us all while we’re sleeping. Did I leave anyone out?”

Clarke rolls her eyes. She can tell Raven is trying to give them a pep talk, but her brand of humour is certainly exhausting at best. “You forgot yourself.”

“Right. Then there’s me, the galaxy’s greatest pilot who happens to be missing a limb. Now, are we ready to get out of here?”

Clarke expects Octavia to make a snarky comment, or even attempt to attack Raven, but she only rolls her eyes. Clearly, Clarke really had missed something while she was down in the engine room. Octavia doesn’t let just anyone get away with insulting her. Either way, Clarke’s just glad everyone seems to be getting along for the moment.

She stands up off her seat, taking a step towards Raven as she studies her expression. She lowers her voice so the others can’t hear. “Are we good?” She holds out her hand as a peace offering.

Raven gives her a half smile, her right hand — the real one — taking Clarke’s. She gives it a tight squeeze. “Always, Griffin. I’m just really fucking sorry about Finn.”

“I know you are. We both lost him.” Clarke says, her voice sombre as she nods. She knows that they have more important things to think about. She also knows that she can wait until after the mission to mourn him properly. “I think… maybe you did the right thing. If I had known while I was on Voss, I probably would’ve gotten myself killed.”

Raven frowns. “I don’t want you to justify it. I was selfish.”

“You were looking out for me,” Clarke reasons.

“Yeah, in the worst possible way.”

Clarke sighs. “It’s in the past now. We can’t change the way it turned out.”

“No, but I could’ve… I could’ve done _something_ right.” Raven sighs as well, using her real hand to pick at her robotic one in frustration. Clarke wonders if she blames herself.

“Raven,” Clarke reaches over, taking her hand again. “I don’t blame you, and I’m not angry at you. It was just a shock to find out that way, that’s all. If I know you as well as I think you do, you’re beating yourself up enough already over it.”

“Yeah,” Raven mutters, letting out a sigh so heavy it’s like she’s been holding it in for months.

“Now, come on, we’re almost at Coruscant, right?” Clarke asks, smiling at her. “Time to go on a new adventure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of talking, lots of secrets, lots of uses of the word 'okay'.
> 
> Just a point: I know it may seem weird that I’m giving the droids gender specific pronouns, but some droids have ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ programming, which is a thing in Star Wars, apparently. Now I can't help but see both Nova and Zee with masculine programming. Plus, it feels weird using ‘it’ as a pronoun. Sue me.
> 
> Also, hey, Octaven are being gal pals. I know this is my mantra, but trust me, Octavia/Ontari is worth the wait. For now, have Octaven.
> 
> Next one’s a big one! Things finally start coming together mission-wise and plot-wise and everything else. Also lightsabers!


End file.
